Big South Conference names Sherika Montgomery as its next commissioner

The Big South Conference, headquartered in Charlotte, has named Sherika A. Montgomery as its new commissioner. Montgomery will join the Big South from the Missouri Valley Conference (MVC), where she most recently has served as deputy commissioner.

“We found the perfect candidate in Sherika Montgomery, whose meteoric rise from Big South student-athlete to Big South commissioner offers the clearest possible evidence that the Big South Conference is, in fact, ‘Where Winners Are Made,’” said Dondi Costin, Big South Conference president and Charleston Southern president.

Montgomery — who played basketball at Gardner-Webb — will replace Kyle Kallander, currently the second-longest tenured NCAA DIvision I mutlisport conference commissioner who is retiring at the conclusion of the 2022-23 season after leading the conference for 27 years. Montgomery will begin her new position on May 15.

“Announcing the Big South’s next commissioner is something that hasn’t happened in nearly 30 years, yet here we are,” Costin said. “Kyle Kallander has captained the ship with a remarkably steady hand during the most turbulent waters in the history of college athletics. No one could have led this conference better than Kyle, so finding his successor was always going to seem like mission impossible.”

Before joining the Missouri Valley Conference, Montgomery was the NCAA’s assistant director of enforcement. Earlier, she served as the Summit League’s associate commissioner for governance and compliance and was an associate athletic director at Winthrop. Before her stint at Winthrop, she spent seven years as a member of the Big South Conference staff in a variety of roles.

Said Montgomery: “I am absolutely honored and humbled to have been chosen to lead the next generation of Big South leaders. As a former Big South student-athlete, I was fortunate to be led by consummate administrators, championed by supreme coaches — on and off the court — and surrounded by fellow fervent student-athletes committed to excellence. In reacquainting myself with the mission of the conference, I am yet again reminded of the immense opportunity to serve and ensure the Big South continues to be ‘Where Winners Are Made’ for years to come.”

Montgomery earned her master’s degree in sports science and pedagogy from Gardner-Webb in 2011, and her bachelor’s degree in sports management from the institution in 2009.

This story was originally published April 11, 2023 at 12:55 PM.