Eric Montross

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Eric Montross
Eric Montross.jpg
Montross in 2019
Personal information
Born (1971-09-23) September 23, 1971 (age 50)
Indianapolis, Indiana
NationalityAmerican
Listed height7 ft 0 in (2.13 m)
Listed weight250 lb (113 kg)
Career information
High schoolLawrence North
(Indianapolis, Indiana)
CollegeNorth Carolina (1990–1994)
NBA draft1994 / Round: 1 / Pick: 9th overall
Selected by the Boston Celtics
Playing career1994–2002
PositionCenter
Number0, 00
Career history
1994–1996Boston Celtics
1996–1997Dallas Mavericks
1997New Jersey Nets
1997Philadelphia 76ers
1997–2001Detroit Pistons
2001–2004Toronto Raptors
Career highlights and awards
Career NBA statistics
Points2,071 (4.5 ppg)
Rebounds2,159 (4.6 rpg)
FG%.490
Stats Edit this at Wikidata at NBA.com
Stats at Basketball-Reference.com
Medals
Men's Basketball
Representing  United States
Pan American Games
Bronze medal – third place 1991 Havana Team Competition

Eric Scott “Big Grits” Montross (born September 23, 1971) is an American retired professional basketball player who played in the National Basketball Association (NBA) for eight seasons with the Boston Celtics, Dallas Mavericks, New Jersey Nets, Philadelphia 76ers, Detroit Pistons, and Toronto Raptors. Born in Indianapolis, he played for Lawrence North High School before enrolling at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill to play for the Tar Heels.

High school[]

Playing for Lawrence North High School, he was selected as a McDonald's All American in 1990.[1] That same year, he was named to the USA Today All-USA first Team. After leading Lawrence North to the Indiana high school basketball championship Montross committed himself to the North Carolina.[2]

Montross was also a baseball pitcher in high school and was drafted by the Chicago Cubs with the 1,547th pick overall in the 1994 MLB draft.[3]

College career[]

He was part of the UNC team that won the NCAA Championship against Michigan in 1993 and was named an All-American as a junior and senior. Montross' father and grandfather had played for Michigan.[4] His father Scott was a teammate of Cazzie Russell in the 1960s and his maternal grandfather John Townsend was an All-American in the 1930s.[5] In 4 seasons at UNC, Montross appeared in 139 games, averaging 11.7 points, 6.8 rebounds and 1.2 blocks per game.[6]

Career Statistics

Legend
  GP Games played   GS  Games started  MPG  Minutes per game
 FG%  Field goal percentage  3P%  3-point field goal percentage  FT%  Free throw percentage
 RPG  Rebounds per game  APG  Assists per game  SPG  Steals per game
 BPG  Blocks per game  PPG  Points per game  Bold  Career high
Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
1990–91 North Carolina 35 9 15.2 .587 - .612 4.2 .3 .2 .9 5.8
1991–92 North Carolina 31 25 25.3 .574 - .624 7 .6 .5 1 11.2
1992–93 North Carolina 38 36 28.3 .615 - .684 7.6 .7 .6 1.2 15.8
1993–94 North Carolina 35 35 31.7 .560 - .558 8.1 .8 .5 1.8 13.6
Career 139 105 25.2 .585 - .624 6.8 .6 .5 1.2 11.7

[1]

Professional career[]

Montross was selected by the Boston Celtics with the ninth overall pick in the 1994 NBA draft. During his first year in the NBA, he averaged 10 points per game, and was selected to the 1995 Rookie All-Star Game and named to the NBA All-Rookie 2nd Team. However, Montross would never again reach this level of production. The Celtics came under fire for selecting Montross over players such as Eddie Jones, Jalen Rose, and Aaron McKie. During his career in the NBA, Montross played with the Celtics, Dallas Mavericks, New Jersey Nets, Philadelphia 76ers, Detroit Pistons, and the Toronto Raptors. Montross announced his retirement on August 26, 2003, due to a foot injury and was waived by the Raptors in February, 2004.[7][8] During his career, Montross averaged 4.5 points, 4.6 rebounds, 0.6 blocks and 0.4 assists per game. He played in 465 games and started 288.[9]

Career statistics

Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
1994–95 Boston Celtics 78 75 29.7 .534 .000 .635 7.3 0.5 0.4 0.8 10.0
1995–96 Boston Celtics 61 59 23.5 .566 - .376 5.8 0.7 0.3 0.5 7.2
1996–97 Dallas Mavericks/New Jersey Nets 78 77 23.5 .456 - .339 6.6 0.8 0.3 0.9 4.3
1997–98 Philadelphia 76ers/Detroit Pistons 48 30 14.4 .424 - .400 4.1 0.2 0.3 0.6 2.9
1998–99 Detroit Pistons 46 2 12.5 .525 .000 .344 3.0 0.3 0.3 0.6 2.1
1999–00 Detroit Pistons 51 0 6.5 .309 - .500 1.4 0.1 0.1 0.2 0.8
2000–01 Detroit Pistons/Toronto Raptors 54 21 12.0 .406 - .258 3.2 0.4 0.2 0.5 2.2
2001–02 Toronto Raptors 49 24 13.4 .402 .000 .323 2.9 0.3 0.2 0.5 2.4
Career 465 288 18.2 .490 .000 .478 4.6 0.4 0.3 0.6 4.5

[2]

Post basketball[]

Montross is now a color commentator on the Tar Heel Sports Network men's basketball broadcasts, having worked the position since former color analyst Mick Mixon left to become the play-by-play voice of the Carolina Panthers.

With the Pan-American Health Organization, Montross co-founded an organization called Vaccine Ambassadors, which aims to distribute vaccines all over the world, especially to developing countries, and help children.[10]

In 1994, he started the Eric Montross Fathers Day Basketball Camp. The camp has raised over one million dollars for the UNC Children's hospital.[11]

Notes[]

  1. ^ "UNC Tar Heels McDonald's All-Americans". Tar Heel Times. Retrieved April 30, 2015.
  2. ^ "7-footer From Indiana Picks N. Carolina". Chicago Tribune. March 22, 1990. Retrieved April 30, 2015.
  3. ^ "1994 Chicago Cubs Picks in the MLB June Amateur Draft".
  4. ^ Lincicome, Bernie (1993-04-05). "Dislike Michigan? Count the ways". Chicago Tribune: 1, section –. ProQuest 283467358.
  5. ^ Adande, J. A. (1993-04-05). "Montross Decision: No Regrets". Chicago Sun-Times. p. 98, section –.
  6. ^ "Eric Montross Stats". Archived from the original on April 30, 2015. Retrieved April 30, 2015.
  7. ^ "Eric Montross Announces Retirement". Real GM. August 26, 2003. Retrieved April 30, 2015.
  8. ^ "Raptors sign Pargo, place Baxter on injured list and waive Montross". Real GM. February 25, 2004. Retrieved April 30, 2015.
  9. ^ "Eric Montross Stats".
  10. ^ Rzeppa, Brian (June 17, 2013). "Inside The League (4): A TLN Exclusive Interview With Former Celtics Top Pick Eric Montross". The League News. Archived from the original on July 4, 2013. Retrieved April 23, 2017.
  11. ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2010-04-17. Retrieved 2010-04-28.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)

External links[]

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