Callum Montgomery’s parents sent him to the United States with two rules: get a degree, and don’t come home saying “y’all.”

The former Charlotte 49ers All-America defender accomplished more than what was asked of him. The Canadian piled on summer classes, just in case he earned an invitation to the MLS Player Combine. His foresight paid off, as his biology degree has been taken care of before he departs for Orlando to participate in the upcoming combine. It could pave the way for his selection in the upcoming MLS SuperDraft.

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“It’s one of the things that you only get once in your life,” Montgomery said. “Lots of kids dream about getting an invite to the combine. There have been so many people who have helped me get to this moment—it wasn’t just me. I look at it, and I am super proud of this moment, but at the same time, there are so many people who have helped me get there.”

Let’s rewind to how Montgomery went from Victoria, British Columbia, Canada to Charlotte.

“I knew I wanted to come down to the States to play college soccer,” Montgomery said. “There’s more opportunities to potentially play professionally. In Canada, we are not really familiar with the whole recruiting process. We tend to start a lot later. Down here, you get recruited as soon as you enter high school. I started sending emails at the end of my grad 10 year.”

Montgomery attended a Stanford ID camp, where former Charlotte coach Jeremy Gunn has been since leaving the 49ers after the 2011 season. While things did not turn out the way Montgomery intended with Stanford, Gunn connected him with his 49ers replacement, Kevin Langan, which led him to an ID camp at Charlotte. He came in as an immediate piece of the starting XI.

Montgomery started 70 of 73 appearances for Charlotte and finished with 11 goals and seven assists. He scored during penalties against Georgia State in the first-round of the 2018 NCAA tournament for the 49ers (14-5-2), who lost in the second round at Virginia Tech.

A staple at center back for the 49ers, he played as a holding midfielder in high school. Langan saw Montgomery’s size (6-foot-3) and vocal presence as ideal traits for a center back.

“I would play one of the holding [midfielders], usually No. 6,” said Montgomery of his comfort with getting forward as a defender.

Catapulting directly into the professional ranks is the ideal path for some, but Montgomery noted that he needed time to grow physically and with the game. Ensuring that his education was secure also played a factor.

“I wanted to get a degree,” he said. “The way the American college system is set up, you can play and get a great degree at the same time, and still have that chance to go play after is unbelievable.”

Montgomery’s former 49ers teammate Brandt Bronico was selected by the Chicago Fire in 2017. Their collegiate paths appeared similar, and Langan hopes that things will turn out just as well for Montgomery.

“If given the chance, I know that he could follow a similar projection that Brandt did—go in and do well, and then stick in the MLS, and really have to grind, get his head down, and prove himself over the first year,” Langan said.

MLS Player Combine

1) Number of collegiate participants: 60

2) Date: Jan. 3-9

3) Location: Orlando City Stadium in Orlando, Florida

SuperDraft:

1) Date: Jan. 11

2) McCormick Place Convention Center in Chicago