Union College adds Detroit recruit Kamaria Montgomery to 2026 class

Union College of Union County, NJ added Detroit prospect Kamaria Montgomery to its 2026 women’s basketball class, a clear out-of-state win for an Owls program that continues to widen its recruiting footprint. FieldLevel listed Montgomery as a 2026 commit headed to Union’s NJCAA Division II team in Cranford, New Jersey, and that move gives the Owls a Midwest name to pair with their New Jersey base.

Montgomery’s player profile lists her at 5-foot-8 and identifies her as a small forward and power forward from Detroit, Michigan. That combination gives Union a versatile frontcourt-wing piece rather than a pure perimeter guard, and it underscores how junior-college recruiting often crosses state lines for players who want a quicker path to development and playing time. In Montgomery’s case, the commitment gives her a college landing spot in a program that has shown it can move players onto bigger stages.

The addition also fits the way Union has built under head coach Jaleel Taylor. Taylor, a Jersey native, founded The Jersey Heat Family Elite in 2011 and has helped more than 85 student-athletes earn academic and athletic scholarships over the past 15 years. That grassroots background matters in NJCAA recruiting, where relationships and evaluation often matter as much as raw rankings, and it helps explain why Union has been comfortable reaching beyond its usual geography when a player fits the program.

The Owls are not recruiting from the margins. UCNJ won the NJCAA Region XIX championship in 2024, beat Niagara County Community College 72-57 on March 9 to secure the East A District title, and advanced to the 2024 NJCAA Division II Women’s Basketball Championship in Joplin, Missouri. The program also stayed at No. 4 in the NJCAA national rankings during the 2025-26 season, a reminder that Union’s recent success has raised the profile of every commitment it lands.

For Union, Montgomery’s decision signals a pitch built on development, visibility and a proven path to postseason basketball. For a 2026 recruit from Detroit, it means stepping into a program with championship experience, a national ranking, and a recruiting operation that is clearly willing to cast a wider net from its home in Cranford to its campuses in Elizabeth, Plainfield and Scotch Plains.