Why are all these young athletes dying ahead of their time on this earth? Ronnie Montgomery (1984-88) Although he never got the press of high-scoring backcourt mate Vernon Maxwell, Ronnie Montgomery made his own contributions to the Gators' first NCAA tournament run in 1987. Montgomery, whose skill as a distributor set up many of Maxwell's scoring opportunities, holds the school record (at least until Erving Walker's next game) with a career total of 503 assists. Never much of a scoring threat, Montgomery had little chance to make it in the NBA. He went undrafted and never played in the league. Ronnie held the title as one of our best Assist-to-Turnover Ratio players ever. INDIVIDUAL FLORIDA RECORDS Assist/Turnover Ratio (Single Season) Min. 3.0 APG 1. Zyon Pullin 2023-24 3.76 2. Chris Chiozza 2017-18 3.41 3. Ronnie Montgomery 1985-86 3.27
Very sad to hear this. Everybody liked Ronnie. I was at the game which got us into the NIT Final Four. That was a big deal for UF, which had never gotten to the NCAAT. Big step for the program and led to the success that followed. After UF won the game, Ronnie put on a top hat and tux and "New York New York" played on the PA...the Gators were headed to Madison Square.
Ronnie used to play pick up ball in alligator alley and I was always surprised how well he shot the ball.
That was a great night. We were seated right under the basket. Such excitement over the NIT! Ronnie seemed like such a class act. RIP. Hope these Gator sports-news sites know who he was and give him his due.
I was at that game—I was sitting behind the Gator bench high enough that I was just above the rim level, and directly opposite Joe Lawrence when he took that shot—I might have been the first person to know it was going in. Albert was wearing the top hat and tails during the game. I don’t know how Ronnie got it after the game
Very sad. Loved going to those games with him, Maxwell and company. UF hadn’t really done much in basketball until then. Those were exciting times. The gameday atmosphere and crowds were wild.
I believe the M and M boys were Andrew Moten and Vernon Maxwell. Someone set me straight if I’m mistaken.