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Summarized by Kent Larsen
RM Has Number Retired by U. Calgary
Calgary Alberta Canada Sun 12Feb00 S2
By Tom Brennan: Calgary Sun
CALGARY ALBERTA CANADA -- Returned Missionary Richard Bohne, star
basketball player for the University of Calgary Dinos, had his number
retired by the University on February 12th, just the University's third
college player to have a number retired. Bohne is the team's all-time
leading scorer and was a former member of the Canadian National Team.
Bohne, who is from Raymond, Alberta, came to Calgary following a
two-year mission in Brazil, and wasn't expecting much from his own play,
"I'd just come back from my two years in Brazil. I weighed maybe
135-140. I remember that first practice. I felt like a little junior
high kid, trying out against these big university guys." Then Head Coach
Gary Howard, who had recruited Bohne out of high school, agrees, "He and
his dad showed up at my office and I didn't recognize him. He did look
like a little junior high kid."
But Bohne, 29, went on to score 2,171 points, averaging 27.4 points per
game. He was a three-time All-Canadian, making the first eam twice, and
he won the 1996 Mike Moser Memorial Trophy, given to the top player in
the CIAU. He also holds both the home and away records for points in a
game, 64 at UBC and 54 at home.
Howard says Bohne was a great player, calling him "perhaps the most
complete offensive player who ever played here." But Howard says that it
came from a lot of dedication, "Everyone knows about his successes. But
they may not know why they became possible. Basketball was more than a
game to him. It was sacred. It was very, very important, and he was
going to give everything he had."
Cory Russell, Howard's successor at Calgary, tried to get Bohne into the
NBA, arguing that Bohne was NBA material, but the league passed, and
Bohne instead played professionally in France. He retired last year
after getting injured.
But Bohne is pleased with how his basketball career turned out, "I think
I did pretty much everything I wanted to. I never really had NBA
aspirations. I wanted to go to Europe to play, I was able to to that,
and I had great time in Paris. It's unfortunate I got injured or I'd
probably still be there. I dreamed about being in the national team
program, and I got to spend three years as part of it. Great
experiences."
Bohne is also pleased about his number being retired, "It's hard to
explain," he says. "That's pretty flattering. It's quite an honour, a
thrill, something I was never expecting."
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