Birthdate: November 14, 1949
Birthplace: Celina, Ohio
High School: St. Henry (1968)
College: Miami University (1972), University of Dayton
Year Inducted: 2013
Ron Niekamp was 22 years old and fresh out of Miami University in 1972 when he took his first coaching job at Parkway High School in Mercer County. It would be the first of 39 seasons in coaching – 13 at the high school level and 26 at the University of Findlay. Niekamp was an All-Ohio basketball player at St. Henry High School where he played for fellow inductee Fran Guilbault. He lettered two years at Miami where his head coach for two years was 2012 HOF inductee Darrell Hedric. After coaching at Parkway for two years, Niekamp moved to Ottawa Glandorf for five seasons and took the Titans to the state tournament in 1977 and 1978. He was voted Class AA coach of the year in 1977. His last stop before joining the college ranks was a six-year stint at Lima Senior which reached the state tourney in 1982. His high school record was 208-86. Niekamp’s Findlay teams had 26 consecutive winning seasons and compiled a 598-185 record. The Oilers, who had competed in the NAIA for Niekamp’s first 14 years, moved to NCAA Division II in 1999-2000 and won the national championship in 2008-09 with a 36-0 record. He retired in 2011.
Watch Ron Niekamp’s Ohio Basketball Hall of Fame Enshrinement Speech: