Ronald Yngve Bontemps (August 11, 1926 – May 13, 2017) was an American
basketball
Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...
player who competed in the
1952 Summer Olympics
The 1952 Summer Olympics ( fi, Kesäolympialaiset 1952; sv, Olympiska sommarspelen 1952), officially known as the Games of the XV Olympiad ( fi, XV olympiadin kisat; sv, Den XV olympiadens spel) and commonly known as Helsinki 1952 ( sv, Helsin ...
. He was born in
Taylorville, Illinois
Taylorville is a city in and the county seat of Christian County, Illinois, United States. The population was 10,506 at the 2020 census, making it the county's largest city.
History
Taylorville was founded on May 24, 1839, and was named after J ...
and attended
Beloit College
Beloit College is a private liberal arts college in Beloit, Wisconsin. Founded in 1846, when Wisconsin was still a territory, it is the state's oldest continuously operated college. It is a member of the Associated Colleges of the Midwest and has ...
. He was a
captain
Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...
of the United States men's basketball team, which won the gold medal in the 1952 Olympic Games. He played in all eight games. Bontemps died on May 13, 2017 in
Peoria, Illinois
Peoria ( ) is the county seat of Peoria County, Illinois, United States, and the largest city on the Illinois River. As of the United States Census, 2020, 2020 census, the city had a population of 113,150. It is the principal city of the Peoria ...
, aged 90.
Early life
Born in Taylorville, Illinois on August 11, 1926, to Carl and Katherine (McBride), Ron Bontemps attended Taylorville High School. Bontemps grew up a few blocks from childhood friend and teammate Johnny Orr, who would later embark on a storied collegiate coaching career.
At Taylorville High School, Bontemps was a First-Team All-State player, as was Johnny Orr. Taylorville had a 45–0 streak and won the 1944 Illinois high school state championship under Coach Dolph Stanley. In the championship game, a 56–33 victory over Elgin High School, Bontemps was the leading scorer, scoring 18 points, with Orr adding 17. He was selected to the All- State Tournament First Team. In the four state tournament games, Orr scored 64 points and Bontemps added 49 points. In the State Tournament, Taylorville defeated East St. Louis High School,
Kewanee High School
Kewanee High School, or KHS, is a Public school (government funded), public four-year high school located at 1211 E. Third Street in Kewanee, Illinois, a city in Kewanee Township of Henry County, Illinois, in the Midwestern United States. KHS is p ...
, and Champaign High School (for a fourth time). “Teams like this come along once every 100 years.” said Coach Staley of his squad. Orr reflected many years later, “Years later, I look back and realize we were the first unbeaten state champion. How the hell did we ever do it? You don’t realize it until much later, what a helluva thing it was.”
College career
After high school graduation in 1944, Bontemps joined the U.S. Army and served in World War II. After being discharged in 1946, he attended the
University of Illinois
The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (U of I, Illinois, University of Illinois, or UIUC) is a public land-grant research university in Illinois in the twin cities of Champaign and Urbana. It is the flagship institution of the University ...
, joining Orr in playing for the Fighting Illini in 1946–1947. After one year at Illinois, his high school coach Dolph Stanley, was coaching at
Beloit College
Beloit College is a private liberal arts college in Beloit, Wisconsin. Founded in 1846, when Wisconsin was still a territory, it is the state's oldest continuously operated college. It is a member of the Associated Colleges of the Midwest and has ...
and recruited Bontemps and Orr to attend Beloit College. At Beloit, Bontemps and Orr joined high school teammates Donald “Red” Janssen, and Fran Stahr on the Beloit roster.
“It was never about individuals on that team,” Bontemps said of the Beloit teams. “We played fast and (Coach) Stanley made sure we were all in great condition. During timeouts, we never sat down. We mowed down a lot of teams. That was a fun time.”
Bontemps scored 1,770 points in 83 career games over three years at Beloit College, a school record that held until 2006. In his tenure, Beloit was 72–12, winning three consecutive Midwest Conference championships from 1948–1951 and playing in the National Intercollegiate Basketball Tournament as well as the 12-team
1951 National Invitation Tournament
The 1951 National Invitation Tournament was the fourteenth edition of the annual NCAA college basketball competition.
Held in New York City at Madison Square Garden, its championship was on Saturday, March 17, and BYU defeated Dayton by nineteen
...
. Said Bontemps in 2006, “The conference got upset with us for being too good.”
NBA/AAU career
After college, Bontemps, a 6'3" guard/forward, was the 3rd round (22nd overall) draft pick of the
Moline, Illinois
Moline ( ) is a city located in Rock Island County, Illinois, United States. With a population of 42,985 in 2020, it is the largest city in Rock Island County. Moline is one of the Quad Cities, along with neighboring East Moline, Illinois, East M ...
based
Tri-Cities Blackhawks Tri-Cities most often refers to:
*Tri-Cities, Tennessee, United States
*Tri-Cities, Washington, United States
Tri-City, Tricity or Tri-Cities may also refer to:
Populated places
Americas
Canada
*Tri-Cities (British Columbia), consisting of Co ...
(today's Atlanta Hawks) of the fledgling
National Basketball Association
The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America. The league is composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada) and is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United S ...
in the 1951 NBA draft.
Instead, as was common in early basketball, Bontemps accepted a job for the
Caterpillar Inc.
Caterpillar Inc. (stock symbol CAT) is an American ''Fortune'' 500 corporation and the world's largest construction-equipment manufacturer.
In 2018, Caterpillar was ranked number 65 on the ''Fortune'' 500 list and number 238 on the Global ''Fo ...
in
Peoria, Illinois
Peoria ( ) is the county seat of Peoria County, Illinois, United States, and the largest city on the Illinois River. As of the United States Census, 2020, 2020 census, the city had a population of 113,150. It is the principal city of the Peoria ...
and while there he played for the Caterpillar
Amateur Athletic Union
The Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) is an amateur sports organization based in the United States. A multi-sport organization, the AAU is dedicated exclusively to the promotion and development of amateur sports and physical fitness programs. It has ...
(AAU) team, the
Caterpillar Diesels
The Caterpillar Diesels (also later known as the Peoria Cats or Caterpillars) was an amateur basketball team located in Peoria, Illinois and sponsored and run by the Caterpillar Inc. company. The Caterpillars were one of the most successful tea ...
, (also called the Peoria Cats) and Coach
Warren Womble
John Warren Womble, Jr. (March 15, 1920 – March 21, 2015) was an American basketball coach. He was the head coach of the Peoria Cats, a National Industrial Basketball League (NIBL) team, located in Peoria, Illinois, and the head coach of the 195 ...
. The Caterpillar Diesels played in the
National Industrial Basketball League
The National Industrial Basketball League was founded in 1947 to enable U.S. mill workers a chance to compete in basketball. The league was founded by the industrial teams (teams sponsored by the large companies and made up of their employees) be ...
. Basketball aside, Bontemps had a thirty eight year career for Caterpillar Inc.
1952 USA Olympic Team
By virtue of their winning the 1952 AAU championship, the Caterpillar Diesels were then invited to compete in the Olympic basketball team playoffs at
Madison Square Garden
Madison Square Garden, colloquially known as The Garden or by its initials MSG, is a multi-purpose indoor arena in New York City. It is located in Midtown Manhattan between Seventh and Eighth avenues from 31st to 33rd Street, above Pennsylva ...
in
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
. In the Olympic playoffs, Caterpillar defeated the AAU
Phillips 66ers
The Phillips 66ers (also known as the Oilers) were an amateur basketball team located in Bartlesville, Oklahoma, and sponsored and run by the Phillips Petroleum Company. The 66ers were a national phenomenon that grew from a small-town team to an ...
in the semifinals, The Caterpillar Diesels then defeated the
University of Kansas
The University of Kansas (KU) is a public research university with its main campus in Lawrence, Kansas, United States, and several satellite campuses, research and educational centers, medical centers, and classes across the state of Kansas. Tw ...
62–60 in the tournament final. As a result, Warren Womble was selected as head coach of the 1952 U.S. Olympic basketball team and Coach
Phog Allen
Forrest Clare "Phog" Allen (November 18, 1885 – September 16, 1974) was an American basketball coach. Known as the "Father of Basketball Coaching,"Frank McCabe, Bontemps,
Dan Pippin
Dan Luther Pippin (October 20, 1926 – April 1, 1965) was an American basketball player who played for the University of Missouri. He later captained the American basketball team at the 1952 Summer Olympics that won the gold medal in Helsinki ...
,
Marc Freiberger
Marcus Ross Freiberger ( – June 29, 2005) was an American basketball player from Amarillo, Texas who was a Gold Medalist in the 1952 Summer Olympics.
Playing career
At 6'11", Freiberger played collegiately for the Oklahoma Sooners.
He was ...
University of Kansas
The University of Kansas (KU) is a public research university with its main campus in Lawrence, Kansas, United States, and several satellite campuses, research and educational centers, medical centers, and classes across the state of Kansas. Tw ...
players including
Naismith Hall of Fame
The Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame is an American history museum and hall of fame, located at 1000 Hall of Fame Avenue in Springfield, Massachusetts. It serves as basketball's most complete library, in addition to promoting and pre ...
inductee
Clyde Lovellette
Clyde Edward Lovellette ( ; September 7, 1929 – March 9, 2016) was an American professional basketball player. Lovellette was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 1988. He was the first basketball player in history to ...
were on the roster. Lovellette would lead Team USA in scoring.
“All of a sudden, I was on the Olympic team,” Bontemps had recalled of his Olympic Team selection. “The reporters started calling, and the crowd started recognizing me. People went nuts, oh, the Olympic Games!”
In the 1952 Olympic Tournament, Bontemps was the 4th leading scorer for
1952 United States men's Olympic basketball team
The 1952 United States men's Olympic basketball team competed in the 1952 Summer Olympics in Helsinki, Finland from July 14 to August 2, 1952. Warren Womble was the team's head coach, and Phog Allen was the team's main assistant coach. The team w ...
, averaging 7.5 points in the eight Olympic games. On August 2, 1952, Bontemps and Team USA secured a 36–25 Gold Medal Game victory over the
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...
.
Following the Olympic victory, Bontemps continued to play for the Caterpillar Diesels while working at Caterpillar, Inc. He was named a 1953 AAU All- American. In 1954, he repeated as an AAU All-American and was named "National Outstanding Amateur Basketball Player" and National Player of the Year by the
Los Angeles Times
The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the Un ...
.
Personal
Bontemps and his wife, the former Norma Jean Smith of Beloit, a 1951 Beloit College graduate, lived in
Morton, Illinois
Morton is a village in Tazewell County, Illinois, United States. The population was 17,117 at the 2020 census. Morton is a suburb of Peoria and is part of the Peoria Metropolitan Statistical Area and is located southeast of Peoria. The commun ...
. Norma Bontemps died in 2009.
Ron Bontemps' son Kevin, played basketball at the University of Illinois from 1980–1983, after a career at Morton High School. Kevin Bontemps like his father, was inducted into the IBCA (Illinois Basketball Coaches Assication) Hall of Fame. Of his father he said, “I attribute all (my basketball success) to my dad. He was never one to force me to play, but he was always willing to get out on the driveway or get in the gym with me. And my older brother, Gary, we were always on the driveaway or in a gym having fun, with dad showing us things and encouraging me to work on different aspects of my game.”
At age 90, Ron Bontemps died on May 13, 2017, at Rosewood Care Center in Peoria, Illinois. He was survived by his two sons and two daughters, eight grandchildren and four great-grandchildren.
Honors
* Helms Foundation Hall of Fame (1958)
* Beloit College Hall of Honor (1965)
* Bontemps' jersey is displayed at Beloit College, in the foyer of Flood Arena
* Illinois Basketball Coaches Association Hall of Fame (1973)
* Taylorville High School Sports Hall of Fame
* Greater Peoria Sports Hall of Fame