Ronald F. Johnson (July 20, 1938 – February 1, 2015) was an American National Basketball Association (NBA) player. Johnson played at New Prague (Minn.) High School where he became Minnesota's first boys’ high school basketball player to score 2,000 career points (2,190) when he graduated in 1956. As a junior at the University of Minnesota, Johnson was selected to the AP All-American third team. In his senior season, Ron was selected to the

NABC NABC is an initialism that may refer to any of the following: *North American Bridge Championships, North American contract bridge tournaments * National Association of Basketball Coaches, an American trade association of men's college basketball c ...

All-American third team. He played in the east–west college all-star game at

New York City's New is an adjective referring to something recently made, discovered, or created. New or NEW may refer to: Music * New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz Albums and EPs * ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013 * ''New'' (EP), by Regurgitator, ...

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 1960. Johnson finished his collegiate career with 1,335 points (19.7 points per game average). Johnson was drafted by the Detroit Pistons with the fourth pick in the second round of the

1960 NBA draft The 1960 NBA draft was the 14th annual draft of the National Basketball Association (NBA). The draft was held on April 11, 1960, before the 1960–61 season. In this draft, eight NBA teams took turns selecting amateur U.S. college basketball play ...

. On December 15, 1960, he was sold from the Pistons to the

Los Angeles Lakers The Los Angeles Lakers are an American professional basketball team based in Los Angeles. The Lakers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Western Conference Pacific Division. The Lakers play their ...

. In his one NBA season, Ron averaged 2.6 points and 2.1 rebounds per game. Johnson, who was an attorney in

St. Cloud, Minnesota St. Cloud is a city in the U.S. state of Minnesota and the largest population center in the state's central region. The population was 68,881 at the 2020 census, making it Minnesota's 12th-largest city. St. Cloud is the county seat of Stear ...

, died of an aneurysm on February 1, 2015. He was 76.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Johnson, Ron 1938 births 2015 deaths 20th-century American lawyers All-American college men's basketball players American men's basketball players Basketball players from Minnesota Deaths from aneurysm Detroit Pistons draft picks Detroit Pistons players Forwards (basketball) Los Angeles Lakers players Minnesota Golden Gophers men's basketball players Minnesota lawyers People from Hallock, Minnesota