Why Nae'shaun Montgomery chose Florida wasn't a surprise. His path from RI to Gainesville was.

PROVIDENCE — On Sunday, Central Falls native Nae’shaun Montgomery announced his decision about his football future.

It was another decision years earlier that helped him get to this spot.

If you’re a Rhode Islander unfamiliar with the four-star recruit’s name, you’re excused.

After growing up in the Ocean State and playing one season of freshman football at Hendricken, Montgomery spent the last two-plus years becoming a national name in the state of Florida, which is exactly how his father, Kashif, planned it.

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On Sunday, the decision to uproot a family in order to maximize his son’s potential bore fruit. In Providence's Viva Mexico Cantina Grill’s back-alley patio, Nae’shaun Montgomery stood behind a table with hats from six of the most recognizable college football programs in the country. With a crowd stuffed into the alleyway, the high school senior threw a couple of jukes in before putting on one final hat and announcing his commitment to the University of Florida.

“Finding a school this whole time and just to get it over with, I’m truly blessed,” Montgomery said. “I’m happy and excited.”

“It’s incredible. I can’t believe we’re here,” said Nae’shaun’s mother, Natasha Alvarez. “I watched him try so hard and he’s so hard on himself. To get here, it’s awesome.”

“Everything was worth it,” Kashif Montgomery said. “He was leaving Rhode Island before he even went to school in Rhode Island. Through my process I learned a lot of information to put my son in a better situation.

“I did my homework and it was the best decision I ever made it my life.”

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The announcement was filled with the pomp and circumstance that has become the norm in the world of college football recruiting and Montgomery was one of the bigger prizes of the 2025 class.

Now 6-foot-3 and 180 pounds, Montgomery first drew national attention when he was a couple of inches shorter and a few pounds lighter. Following his freshman season at Hendricken — where he played for the freshman team and had some practice time with the varsity — Mongomery had a big offseason and it became patently clear Division I football was in his future.

His father wanted more.

Kashif chased his own football dreams, playing at Division III University of Virginia-Lynchburg, earning some NFL interest as an undrafted free agent and earning a contract in the Canadian Football League in 2015.

Seeing athletic talent in his son, Kashif helped Nae’shaun sharpen the skills necessary to succeed on the football field. As those skills grew, Kashif starting thinking about ways to maximize his opportunity to play at the next level.

Rhode Island has produced Division I college football talent, but players who have found college football's upper echelon of programs have been players built with genetics that are hard to miss. There haves been massive offensive linemen, like current Georgia Bulldogs tackle Xavier Truss or a defensive end built like the Incredible Hulk, a la Kwity Paye, who went from Hendricken to Michigan to the Indianapolis Colts.

Some of the state’s players at skill positions have taken other routes, like prep school or a junior college.

Kashif didn’t want that. He wanted his son to play in a place where he’d be challenged in practice on a daily basis and on Saturday afternoons. Somewhere where college coaches wouldn’t have a problem finding him. At a school where you can’t say ‘well he’s good . . . but look at who he’s playing against.’

So Kashif and his family — his girlfriend and her son and Nae’shaun and his brother — moved to Florida.

“I know what I wanted for my sons and family and I knew what I had to do to make it happen,” said Kashif, who’s a truck driver. “It was a no-brainer for me.”

For football, the move seemed obvious and it didn’t take long for Nae’shaun to see the difference between football in Rhode Island and football in a state where the sport is a lifeblood.

“It changed a lot,” Nae’shaun said. “The game is faster, a lot of people are stronger. I just knew to get in the lab.”

The move wasn’t easy on Alvarez. Co-parenting is tough enough, but trying to do it from another state only makes things more difficult. What made it easier was knowing why it was being done.

“It was definitely hard as a mom,” Alvarez said. “But if this was going to be for his future, then sometimes we have to sacrifice and we have to put our own feelings to the side. I’m glad it all worked out.”

Sunday’s announcement wasn’t arguably the biggest college announcement in the history of Rhode Island. It was.

Family and friends started arriving before 5 p.m. and around 5:35, a massive crowd gathered outside Viva Mexico’s Washington Street entrance for Nae’shaun’s arrival.

A matte black Mercedes Benz rolled up to a reserved parking space and, after Nae’shaun’s younger brother stepped out and had some fun, the star of the show made his entrance.

This, too, was part of the plan. In Florida, a top recruit committing to an SEC school is commonplace. This was about coming back and seeing the people who supported the start of the journey, but also about inspiring the state’s youth who may have the same dreams.

“I feel amazing to do it in front of my whole family and friends,” Montgomery said. “I’m just extremely blessed.

“A lot of people can’t come see me play in Florida so I knew, for my big day, I was going to do it in front of everybody. That’s why I came home.”

“In Florida, down there, the love is different,” Kashif said. “There’s a lot of former athletes who come and train and kids are able to show up and touch them. Where we’re from, you can’t touch those people.

“We have to give these kids hope and I felt this move was best for Nae and the state of Rhode Island. He’s opening doors for all these kids around here so what better place to do it other than home?”

While he exudes confidence on the field, his pre-announcement speech was very much that of a shy high school senior running for class president. With around 100 people trying to listen, Nae’shaun read pre-written words of thanks off his phone at the same speed that he runs his 40-yard dash.

Six hats were in front of him. Florida. Oregon. Alabama. Penn State. Alabama. Louisiana State. He gave a subtle hint at what his goals are for the next level — saying “for the next three years I’ll be taking my talents to” instead of “four” — before playfully putting on and removing the PSU and LSU hats.

Finally, looking to his right, Montgomery grabbed the Florida hat and simply said “Go Gators.”

“I really liked the communication and my biggest thing was playing as a freshman,” Nae’shaun said. “I just knew Florida will give me a chance to play as a freshman and have a good quarterback with other good receivers.”

“I’ve known from the beginning, but he knew I knew,” Kashif said. “We weren’t telling anyone. It defeats the whole purpose.

“It was a big thing to come back and do it here.”

Montgomery isn’t the first Rhode Islander to leave the smallest state for a larger one in hopes of chasing athletic dreams. In fact, Montgomery isn’t the first Rhode Islander to leave the smallest state to play high school football in Florida and then end up at the University of Florida. That was Eugene Wilson III, son of the former New England Patriots safety, who grew up in Coventry before heading south. He could very well be Nae’shaun’s teammate next fall.

Montgomery also isn’t the only current former Rhode Island player making waves in the south either.

Dylan Frechette spent a couple of years at Cumberland before heading to Cardinal Newman High — which was Montgomery's first high school in Florida — and on Aug. 12, gave his verbal commitment to Florida International.

La Salle All-State linebacker and Providence Journal Defensive Player of the Year Terrence Campbell is one of Nae’shaun’s teammates at Miami Central. Campbell had offers from Brown, URI and Bowling Green before he left La Salle and has since added Florida Atlantic, Toledo and West Virginia.

Campbell’s All-State teammate Herlin Perry also made the trek. The cornerback has picked up offers from Florida International, the University of South Florida and Pittsburgh and is quickly becoming a hot commodity thanks to his ability to lock up in man coverage.

These players all had the potential to be Division I college football players had they stayed in Rhode Island. But in Florida, it’s easier to get noticed.

And no one knows it better than the man responsible for putting the actions in place that led to Sunday’s big announcement.

“We’ve done opened the door,” Kashif said. “If you’re a skill guy, I’m going to be honest with you — New England is not the place for you. That’s just what it is.

“They’re not recruiting skill players from here. They come here for linemen. If you want to be a skill player and chase your dreams, if you’re really that guy, you have to do what you’ve got to do.”

This article originally appeared on The Providence Journal: Why Nae'shaun Montgomery chose Florida wasn't a surprise. His path from RI to Gainesville was.