JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. — Few people know the Big South Conference as well as Sherika Montgomery.
She played in this league with Gardner-Webb, featuring at center for the Runnin’ Bulldogs as they transitioned from the ASUN to the Big South in the late 2000s. Then she joined the conference offices in Charlotte, working first as an intern, then as a staff member. She left for a few years beginning in 2017, working in various roles with Big South member Winthrop University, then the Summit League, the NCAA, and the Missouri Valley Conference.
Montgomery returned to the Big South in 2022 to be the league’s Deputy Commissioner, then rose to the lead chair in 2023. She is the first woman and the first Black person to be commissioner of the Big South.
And a lot has changed in college athletics as Montgomery continues her full third season on the job leading the Big South. The transfer portal has paved the way for freedom of movement amongst players in all sports, and NIL and the House Settlement has opened the door for them to be paid.
Through those changes, Montgomery has worked to provide a voice for the league and enhance its stability. While membership has shrunk in recent years — with Hampton, North Carolina A&T and Campbell leaving for the CAA — Montgomery worked to establish a football partnership with the Ohio Valley Conference, brought on associate members in Olympic sports, and struck an broadcasting rights extension with ESPN. Under her watch in 2024, the Big South women’s basketball championship was aired live on ESPN2 for the first time ever.
And earlier this year, she testified before a Congressional committee in support of the SCORE Act.
“We’re going through a very transformational time in intercollegiate athletics. I’ve seen the change, I understand the change, and anytime you have change, it can be hard. I’ve really tried to lead and serve our membership by leaning into this change with as least resistance as possible,” Montgomery told SB Nation last week at Big South Media Day. “There are a myriad of things that, maybe in the last three to five years, a commissioner wouldn’t be doing. Now it’s immensely important. I think one of those things is congressional engagement.”
On the SCORE Act specifically, Montgomery added: “It really and truly does check three huge boxes that’s important to the Big South Conference. And that’s student-athletes not being named employees, preemption from state law and limited liability protection. We have to be able, as an association, as an enterprise, to make, set and enforce eligibility, academic rules and transfer rules, to really relieve ourselves of this quagmire of just repeated litigation. Without question, we do need congressional engagement as it relates to the state of intercollegiate athletics.”
This year, Montgomery will also serve as the vice chair on the selection committee for the WBIT — a second-tier 32-team postseason tournament for women’s basketball that began in 2024 and is sponsored and organized by the NCAA. Think of it as the women’s version of the men’s NIT.
Montgomery sat down with SB Nation at the Carnegie Hotel in Johnson City for an exclusive conversation about a variety of topics across women’s sports in the league and the NCAA.
This conversation has been lightly edited for brevity and clarity.
You have a handful of members that have opted into the House Settlement who don’t have football. Could that be an advantage for the league on the basketball court, for men or women?
“Yes, I think you hit the nail on the head. That’s one of the things when you look at the Big South Conference, we are a basketball-centric conference. We have two football-playing member institutions (Gardner-Webb and Charleston Southern) and they have a home — we have a great partnership with the OVC. But as a conference, we do not sponsor the sport of football. So that allows us to think through some of our strategic initiatives, some of our strategic efforts, differently, as well as on campuses where they’re able to spread some of those resources out, spread some of that rev-share out. We’re not doing that over a group of 85 to 105 young men with that new roster size (for football).”
To pivot to women’s basketball, you’re now on the selection committee for the WBIT. This tournament is two years old now. From afar, how do you think it’s been going?
“Overall, I think that was a tremendous success. Obviously, we know that that came out of a huge push, a huge support for years from the women’s basketball community. That is a high level competitive bracket of basketball. It really allows our women’s basketball student athletes to continue playing deep in March.”
And are y’all looking at the same sort of criteria that the NCAA Tournament Selection Committee uses?
“Very similar to that. Our job as a committee is really and truly to select and to set up that bracket based on the information coming directly from the (NCAA Tournament) selection committee. So, in terms of criteria, we’re looking at NET, the WAB… We’re using that exact same information.”
Do y’all feel like that tournament is at a good size right now?
“I think we’re at a good size right now. And I say that from the perspective of, obviously, we know there’s discussion about the (NCAA) national championship, both on the men’s and the women’s side, expanding. And so, being able to really make sure we have that size right before looking to expand an additional tournament, I think is appropriate. But as we sit to date, I think we’re in a good size.”
Since you mentioned it, do you have a strong opinion one way or the other on if they should expand the women’s NCAA Tournament?
“I’m very big on not growing too fast. But I still see where we are today. There are still quality teams being left at home in March. I can see there being a level of expansion. And one thing I think is also important to keep in mind — you see some new tournaments coming up on the men’s side, such as The Crown, which is, once again, high level basketball. If there’s an opportunity to keep that, whether it’s the expansion of the NCAA Tournament and/or the WBIT, that is something I will be supportive of.”
The women’s NCAA Tournament just got the First Four a few years ago. I know some coaches don’t like to play in the First Four, but now there’s units up for grabs. And if you can win an NCAA Tournament game, you get money. You’ve had some members play in the First Four in recent years and I imagine that you’re supportive of that format now, right?
“Absolutely, you’re exactly right. Two years ago, the Presbyterian women won a game in the First Four over Sacred Heart. We still look back on that and use that as an example to be able to get that nugget. It’s not just just about getting the automatic qualifier and making the tournament, it’s about when you get there you want to make sure that you have a head-to-head that you feel that you can not only win, but at least be able to compete in.”
To get away from women’s basketball for a second… Presbyterian sponsors women’s wrestling. Radford is aiming to have a varsity women’s flag football team soon. How are you monitoring these emerging women’s sports and how your members are approaching them?
“So, having previously served on the committee on women’s athletics, I’m very familiar with the emerging sports for women. Presbyterian, they’re an example of not only women’s wrestling, but they have acrobatic and tumbling as well that they sponsor… Women’s flag football continuing to grow is something that we’re keeping a very close eye on. We have three-to-four additional member institutions that we’re actively engaging in discussions with NFL representatives. I think it’s going to be on the emerging list before we know it. And when a sport is on the emerging list, our student athletes receive revenue from the sport sponsorship, so it also aids and incentivizes our institutions being able to do that while helping them start those programs. So, we’re really excited about women’s flag football.”
The membership and size of this league has fluctuated a little bit in recent years, up and down. Do you feel like you’re at a stable point right now?
“I feel like membership is one you always have to keep an eye on. I tell our coaches, it’s almost like recruiting and building a team. My focus is on retaining our member institutions just as it is attracting new member institutions and making sure we’re balancing that. We want to make sure we have strategic initiatives and commitments that’s going to make our member institutions stay and be a part of the excellence, be a part of what we’re doing, while at the same time attracting new member institutions. We’ve been solid going into Year Three with nine member institutions. I know our institutions in this room, and they’re attractive, so I’m always watching from that perspective, but I am proud to say there’s a level of stability that we’ve had and we’ve really focused on quality of an institution versus quantity. But we always have our eye on membership… We are open to growing.”
