The NBA Finals date back to 1947 (when they were known as the Basketball Association of America Finals) and the very 1st NCAA tourney was held in 1939. Olympic basketball competition is even older: it debuted as a demonstration event in 1904 and the men’s version became a medal sport in 1936, with the women finally getting their chance to go for the gold in 1976. The United States has dominated Olympic basketball competition from the start: the men have won 15 gold medals in the 18 tournaments they have participated in during the past 84 years, while the women have won 8 gold medals in the 10 tournaments in which they have competed during the past 44 years. Those of you who were looking forward to the 2020 Olympics opening ceremonies in Tokyo on July 24, 2020 will have to wait an extra 364 days, as the coronavirus caused a postponement until July 23, 2021. Due to the absence of college basketball since mid-March, HoopsHD’s Jon Teitel decided to fill the void by trying to interview as many prior Olympic players/coaches as possible so that you have something to read this summer while not watching the Summer Games. We continue our coverage by chatting with Ron Tomsic about winning a gold medal in 1956.
You were born in Oakland: what made you choose Stanford? Because I could get in! I had some other offers that were more lucrative but Stanford is a very prestigious school and I had a counselor in high school who went there. He said that if I could get in then I should go.
You were a 5’11” guard: did you see your size as an advantage or disadvantage on the court? Both. Basketball players are typically taller so I was usually the shortest guy on every team I played on, which means I was at a huge disadvantage when it came to rebounding. However, I was very fast and felt that I could start/stop quicker than anyone else, which was a distinct advantage.
In 1955 you scored a career-high 40 PTS in a game vs. USC, which remains 1 of the highest scoring performances in school history: was it just 1 of those scenarios where every shot you put up seemed to go in because you were “in the zone”? That particular day: yes. I only missed a couple of shots from the field. I had 3-4 such performances during my career, including 39 PTS vs. La Salle at the Cow Palace and 38 PTS vs. USC. When you are in a zone you just have at it. What made it a little better than you might think is that there was no 3-PT line back then, nor a shot-clock. Usually the final 5 minutes of a game just involved the team in the lead holding the ball and getting fouled. Had there been a 3-PT line back then I might have scored 50 PTS. During high school there were sportswriters who would come from all over to watch the crazy guy who jumped off both feet before he actually shot…and that was me! They would ask me why I did that and I said that if you looked at my height then you could see it was the only way that I could get a shot off. I could shoot over taller guards due to my quickness.
You were a 3-time all-conference player and at the time of your graduation your 1416 career PTS was the most in school history: what is the secret to being a great scorer? Never up/never in! We did not have a lot of great scorers and I got to play on the varsity as a freshman due to an exception during the Korean Conflict. I played with 4 seniors and after they all graduated the coach told me to take whatever I felt was a good shot.
In the spring of 1955 you were drafted by Syracuse but instead of going pro you played AAU basketball for the San Francisco Olympic Club (where you became a 3-time All-American and won an AAU national title): why did you choose AAU over the NBA, and what did it mean to you to win a title? I am a West Coast guy so after they flew me back to Syracuse there was a huge snowstorm and I wondered why they did not just fly me back West. The NBA was not paying players that much in those days, which was not great for a newly married guy like myself, so I opted not to move to Syracuse. I stayed out West and some of the AAU teams were as good if not better than the pro teams. The AAU teams would give their players a meaningful job so that they would have something lined up for them after their playing days. My future Olympic teammates Gib Ford/Dick Boushka ended up with pretty neat high-ranking jobs. When we won the national title it was very thrilling and 1 of the highlights of my career.
You made the 1956 Olympic team as 1 of 3 players who had served in the Air Force: what impact did your service have on you either on or off the court? I was in ROTC at Stanford but was never going to be a career service guy. I did 2 years in the Air Force but I am unsure whether it really had any impact: it was just an obligation I had to fulfill. It was fun to watch how it worked but I could not wait to get back to civilian life. A few decades later I was a Commissioner for the Los Angeles Olympic Organizing Committee that organized/operated the 1984 Olympic Games and was 1 of hundreds of people that ran with the Olympic Torch on its journey to Los Angeles!
2 other members of the team were San Francisco teammates KC Jones/Russell, who are among a handful of players to have won NCAA/NBA/Olympic titles: what was it like to play with a pair of future Hall of Famers who each won 8+ NBA titles with the Celtics? If we had Russell/you/me/2 other guys we could have won! I actually played against Russell during high school: he was 1 year behind me and was close to me in height until he grew 7” before his sophomore year. He was not a great shooter but he had a great attitude/desire to play defense, which changed the professional game. He anticipated people coming into the lane better than anybody else that I have ever seen. I was guarding a guy in the Olympics who went up for a jump shot and I tried to tick his elbow and they called a foul on me. Bill said if that guy wanted to come down the middle I should just let him go. The next time I did and Bill waited until the last second and blocked the shot out to mid-court and I ended up making a layup in transition. KC is solid as a rock. He was also not a great shooter but his defense was amazing. In the 1955 title game vs. La Salle he scored 24 PTS and held Tom Gola to only 16 PTS/6-15 FG when Gola was the best player in the country.
What did it mean to you to represent your country, and what did it mean to you to win a gold medal? Talk about the highlight of my career! I remember 3 specific moments. We played in the Olympic Trials: I was on the all-Armed Forces team and played about 28 games in an attempt to get selected, Bill/KC were on the college All-Star team, and there were 2 AAU teams. We stayed up at night while the committee went upstairs to decide: when they came down and announced that I had made it I felt very excited. We lined up before our 1st game and KC said that this was big time: it was not like Stanford playing USF. Of course the greatest moment of all is when they hand you the medal and play the national anthem: it gave me chills and brought tears to my eyes.
You were later inducted into the Helms Amateur Basketball Hall of Fame: where does that rank among the highlights of your career? I am in about 5-6 Halls of Fame: I was actually elected twice to the Helms Hall of Fame for some reason! The Stanford Hall of Fame was a big 1, as were the San Francisco Olympic Club/Pac-12/US Olympic Halls of Fame: they were all very exciting. When I got back from the Olympics the LA Times had a big banquet for players from all different sports. They named Russell as the pro basketball player of the year and me as the amateur basketball player of the year, which was also pretty exciting.
When people look back on your career, how do you want to be remembered the most? I would like to be remembered as a good solid basketball player who consistently rose to the level of competition that I was facing.