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 Kevin Bontemps about his father Ron winning a gold medal in 1952. Today marks the 68th anniversary of Ron scoring 7 PTS vs. the Soviet Union in Olympic round-robin pool play.
1 of your dad’s high school teammates was Johnny Orr, who later became 1976 national COY at Michigan: how close were the 2 of them? They were friends: you grow close to most of your teammates as basketball buddies. They both ended up at Beloit College together and exchanged Christmas cards every year.
They both played basketball at Taylorville High School where they went 45-0 thanks to your dad scoring a game-high 18 PTS to help beat Elgin High School in the 1944 Illinois high school state title game: how big a deal was it for him to be part of the 1st undefeated basketball team in state history? It was a big deal. I remember him referencing it because some team got pretty close about 2-3 years before that. Back then they had less restrictions on scheduling: he would practice 1-2 times/week and played games 3-4 times/week.
After graduating he joined the Army and served in World War II: what impact did his service have on him either on or off the court? He was drafted but by the time he went to the Philippines the war had just ended. It was not completely safe but he was not in the turmoil that others went through just 6 months earlier.
After being discharged in 1946 he joined Orr at Illinois but they transferred to Beloit College after their high school coach Dolph Stanley recruited them both to join him there: was it always going to be a package deal, and they did have any regrets after seeing the Illini make 3 Final 4s in 4 years from 1949-1952? My recollection is that he took some summer classes at Illinois/played some basketball and then returned to Taylorville because he was unsure what he wanted to do. He was not engaged at Illinois so he went to California for a few months before joining Dolph. He met my mom at Beloit and had a lot of other good things happen there so he did not have any regrets.
He won 3 straight Midwest Conference titles from 1949-1951 and even played in the 1951 NIT: where does he rank among the greatest players in Beloit history? Speaking without bias I would say #1! He held the school’s career scoring title for more than 50 years until someone broke it about 15 years ago. He was certainly a big gun there but he was a modest guy. They were beating up on everyone in the conference back then. 1 year they played DePaul at Chicago Stadium: they won the game and set the Stadium scoring record with almost 100 PTS. I went to the NIT Final 4 as a freshman at Illinois and they gave me a watch. When I brought it home he showed me his own watch that he had received back in 1951. The NIT was a lot bigger deal back then.
In the spring of 1951 he was drafted 22nd overall by the Tri-Cities Blackhawks: why did he choose to not turn pro and instead play for the AAU Caterpillar Diesels in the National Industrial Basketball League? My older brother and I played basketball throughout high school: we could not understand his decision back then and asked him about it. He said that pro basketball was not the same: the money was not as big so guys would have to get jobs during the offseason. He worked at Caterpillar for 38 years and we did not want for anything. He kept the letter showing that he got drafted and my mom still has it packed away in a scrapbook.
After winning the 1952 AAU title and then beating NCAA tourney champ Kansas 62-60 he was 1 of 5 members of the Diesels who made the 14-man Olympic roster and won a gold medal as the captain of team USA: what did it mean to him to represent his country, and what did it mean to him to win a gold medal? He was very proud of that and we heard lots of stories about it. He went to the Olympic trials in Denver and then the 2 best teams squared off in Kansas. It was a close game in the final minute: they held the ball, All-American Clyde Lovellette went down for the game-winning layup…and missed it. My dad got the ball, passed it ahead, and then someone made the game-winning jumper. Caterpillar coach Warren Womble got to bring his starting 5 (including my dad) and the rest of the team was made up of Kansas players. He took some photos and even had some film of the opening ceremonies. The gold medals back then were 2/3 the size that they are now but it was still pretty fun to bring it to school for show-and-tell! Every 4 years the local Peoria newspaper would call him for an interview and put his picture in the paper.
He was a 2-time AAU All-American in 1953/1954 and then spent almost 4 decades working for the Caterpillar Tractor Company: what did it mean to him to receive such outstanding honors, and how did he like his off-court gig? I talk smack to my own sons about how great a player I was but my dad was a very humble guy. My mom had his Helms Hall of Fame award hanging on the wall and he even won a national POY award. He would answer questions if asked but never bragged about it. He won some other honors as well that we got to attend celebrations for, which was fun after just hearing all of the old stories. He always spoke highly of Caterpillar after working there a long time and never spoke a bad word about them. He retired with a pension that made life easier on us.
Just like your father you played basketball at Illinois and were later inducted into the Illinois Basketball Coaches Association Hall of Fame: who is the best athlete in the family? I think that he was. We would play basketball out on the driveway all of the time and my dad was out there as well. Even when I was in high school I do not recall ever beating him 1-on-1. He played basketball well into his 60s but I had to quit in my late 40s due to some injuries. He even played tennis into his 70s. We would have open gym during school and dad would stop by: it was so much fun to play with him.
He passed away in 2017: when people look back on his career, how do you think that he should be remembered the most? He was a modest/humble guy who worked really hard at the sport that he loved. However, his family/church were the priorities in his life after college, which always impressed me. He had very high integrity up until the end a few years ago and was a solid example for his kids. I still miss sitting around and talking to him.