The Ron Bonham Interview
By:
Michael D. McClellan
|
Tuesday, May 17th, 2005
You
were born on May 31st, 1942, in Muncie, Indiana. Take me back in time – what
was your childhood like, and what sports did you like to play?
I’ve
always been an outdoors person, just like my farther and mother. My father
loved to hunt and fish – he always followed sports of all kinds – so I guess you
could say I came by it honestly [laughs]. Growing up, especially in those early
years, I spent a lot of time outdoors with my father. We were always in the
woods or on a stream, which remain some of my earliest memories of
sports-related activities. People think I grew up shooting baskets, but I had a
heart murmur as a youngster and couldn’t participate in a strenuous sport such
as basketball until about the eighth grade. So I was about fourteen before I
started playing competitively.
You’ve heard of Indiana basketball. It’s known nationwide as the basketball capital. My parents always had season tickets to the Muncie Central Bearcats, which was one of the powers in Indiana high school basketball. Muncie Central has won more state championships than any other team in Indiana. So I got the love of basketball from going to the Muncie Central games with my parents. I used to work out two or three times a day, drilling every chance I could get, and I ended up being a pretty good player in high school.
You were
twice a first-team All-State player at Muncie Central High School, finishing
your career as the leading scorer in the history of Indiana high school
basketball with 2,023 points. Please share some of the memories from this
period in your life.
We
had a lot of talent on our high school team. We were ranked Number 1 in the
state during my senior year. We won twenty-nine straight games but ended
losing that last game, which was for the state championship. That was one
of the biggest disappointments that I ever had in my life as a basketball
player.
I was fortunate enough to be Mr. Basketball of Indiana in 1960, and I was also lucky enough to be the Most Valuable Player of both the Kentucky and Indiana All-Star games. But those honors really go back to the talent that we had on our high school team, especially during my senior season. It was just phenomenal. All five of the starting players on that team went on to play college basketball. One of our guards was the state champion in the low hurdles. They were just tremendous athletes. And very unselfish, as well. I was lucky enough that I got to shoot the ball a lot. That was my role on the team – to score and rebound.
The backing that we had from the community was just tremendous. I can remember going down to the semifinals and finals of the state championship in Indianapolis, and there was such a line of cars behind the bus that you couldn’t see the end of it. Muncie Central Fieldhouse was one of the larger ones in the state – it held about 6,000 patrons, and it was full every game. Since they’ve gone to the class basketball here in Indiana, there just isn’t the same interest as before. I can remember sitting in the isles as a young child because there were so many people at the games. As a matter of fact, families used to pass down their Muncie Central season tickets in their wills, that’s how much interest there was in Bearcat basketball.
You
averaged 28 points-per-game as a senior, earning nicknames such as the
"Blonde Bomber" and the "Muncie Mortar" along the way. What was the secret
to your prodigious scoring touch?
We
had a basketball goal out behind our house, and I never missed a day once I
started playing. I can remember the summer in-between my ninth grade and
sophomore years at Muncie Central. I was out there playing, and I cracked a
bone in my left foot and broke my ankle. Even with a walking cast on – I
don’t know how many walking casts I went through that summer – I never
missed a day of shooting. I think that had a lot to do with it.
I took tap dancing lessons for twelve years, starting at a very early age, and I think that that was one of the reasons for my coordination and leaping ability on the basketball court. It especially made a difference in my footwork. I also took acrobatics, which involved a lot of leg strengthening, and that absolutely made a difference. I guess you could say that I was one of those white guys that could jump [laughs].
We used to go to one of the junior high schools that was open in the summer, and work out for three hours in the early afternoon, and then go outside and play at a church at night. There are still pockets of interest like that today, but nothing like it used to be. Kids just have so many other activities to distract them.
