Ron Boone
Ron Boone
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Ron Boone

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Ron Boone

Ronald Bruce Boone (born September 6, 1946) is an American former professional basketball player. He had a 13-year career in the American Basketball Association (ABA) and National Basketball Association (NBA). Boone set a record for most consecutive games played in professional basketball history with 1,041 and claims to have never missed a game from when he started playing basketball in the fourth grade until his retirement. Boone is the current color commentator on Utah Jazz broadcasts.

Boone grew up in the Logan Fontenelle housing project and attended Technical High School in North Omaha, Nebraska. In high school, Boone played basketball for Coach Neal Mosser, who had led Tech to the 1963 State title and had coached Basketball Hall of Famer Bob Boozer and Baseball Hall of Famer Bob Gibson before Boone. Boone stood only 5'7" when he graduated from high school and didn't become a starter in basketball until his senior season. Boone played baseball under Coach Josh Gibson, older brother of Baseball Hall of Fame pitcher Bob Gibson, who also was an Omaha native and Technical High School alumnus.

Small in stature at the time, Boone reflected on his basketball aspirations after high school. “I remember playing in a league down at the local YMCA and just having a good time — scoring points — and this friend of mine asked one of the officials if he thought I could play major college basketball and the guy said, ‘No way,’ Boone recalled. “That was always in the back of my mind because I thought I could. If there was anything in my life that I can say inspired me, it was those comments.”

After high school, Boone and a teammate accepted offers to play junior college basketball. Boone played one season at Clarinda Community College in Clarinda, Iowa, where he suddenly grew to 6'2" and averaged 26 points per game.

Following his tenure at Clarinda Community College, Boone enrolled at Idaho State University (ISU) in Pocatello, Idaho, where he received a scholarship and played for the Bengals, of the Big Sky Conference from 1965 to 1968.

As a sophomore, Boone averaged 10.9 points and 9.4 rebounds in 1965–1966. Boone played under Idaho State Coach Claude Retherford, as the Bengals finished the season with a 7–19 overall. Retherford was a former college teammate of Boone's high school coach Neil Mosser.

"It was Coach Mosser who helped me get a basketball scholarship to Idaho State." Boone reflected later, "I was accepted sight unseen and now, 30 years later, Claude Retherford is still one of my best friends. He visits me in Salt Lake City every spring and I teach his basketball camp every summer."

In 1966–1967, Idaho State finished the season with a record of 10–15, with Boone averaging 22.3 points and 5.1 rebounds.

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