Larry Davidson (Born 1958)
March 31, 2025
Ron Lemons
- Nationality: USA
- Date of Birth: 1/05/59
- Place of Birth:
- Position: FRD
- Height (CM): 201
- Weight (KG): #N/A
- Junior Assoc: None
- College: Northern Iowa (1975-1979)
- NBL DEBUT: 13/02/82
- AGE AT DEBUT: 22
- LAST NBL GAME: 9/07/88
- AGE AT LAST GAME: 29
- NBL History: Nunawading 1982-85 | Eastside 1987-88
- Championships: 0
- None
NBL EXPERIENCE
Ron Lemons made his NBL debut with the Nunawading Spectres at 22 years of age. He scored 12 points in his first game.
In 1982, Lemons averaged 14.7 points, 5.4 rebounds, and 0.9 assists as the Spectres finished with a record of 19-7 and in third place during the regular season.
1983
In 1983, Lemons averaged 19 points, 5.2 rebounds, and 0.9 assists, playing a key role in the Spectres rotation, helping the team finish reach a fifth place finish in the regular season with a 15-7 record.
1984
The 1984 season saw Lemons average 20.8 points, 5.4 rebounds, and 1.4 assists and play a key role in helping the Spectres to a seventh-place finish during the regular season with a 14-9 record.
1985
During the 1985 season Lemons averaged 21.9 points, 6.3 rebounds, and 2.1 assists and helped the Spectres finish with a record of 19-7 and end the regular season in third place.
1987
In 1987, Lemons averaged 14.1 points and 5.2 rebounds, and helped guide the Spectres to a eighth place finish in the regular season with a 13-13record.
1988
After the Spectres chose not to re-sign Barry Barnes (who had been the Spectres head coach since they entered the NBL), former Melbourne Tigers player, Brian Goorjian, who had been coaching Ballarat in the Victorian State League was named as his successor. Goorjian’s arrival wasn’t exactly a warm one. With some team members feeling that Barnes’ assistant coach Colin Cadee should have been given the job, a number of players signed a petition to prevent Goorjian from getting the role.
Once appointed as head coach Goorjian, import Bruce Bolden and Brendan Joyce left for rival club Westside Melbourne and Peter Blight headed to Hobart. Goorjian retained the younger players on the roster, Ron Lemons, Warren Pink, Steve Lunardon, Shane Froling and Darren Lucas and but decided not to re-sign the team’s leading scorer from last season, Vince Hinchen. Instead, he would look to find a import better suited to the new look roster.
Goorjian struggled to find the right US talent to balance out the team. His first import, Kevin Ross (14.0 points, 3.5 rebounds), lasted only two games before being sent back to the US, and his replacement Quentin Anderson (12.0 points, 9.5 rebounds), wasn’t much better and was also given the axe after two games. Goorjian had also signed Harvard University’s leading scorer Arne Duncan to pair with the aforementioned Ross and Anderson. Duncan (24.1 points, 4.7 rebounds and 5.4 assists) was a totally different story. A blue-chip athlete who went on the lead the team in scoring and in fact, packed a suitcase and flew to Australia with just a week’s notice after narrowly missing out on a contract with the Boston Celtics.
Mid-season Goorjian then signed Rick Sharpe (19.6 points, 5.3 rebounds and 3.2 assists), who had played for his father Ed Goorjian at the University of Loyola and formed a nice tandem with Dean Uthoff (18.3 points, 17.2 rebounds and 4.3 assists). 22-year-old Lucas would be given the green light in his second season. He saw his minutes almost double (25 per game to 38 per game) and, as a result, saw his numbers skyrocket from 8.8 points to 23.1 points per game while also adding 3.9 rebounds, 3.5 assists and 1.9 steals. This included his 45-point career-high against the Perth Wildcats.
Lemons would average 9.1 points, 2.5 rebounds, and 0.9 assists. Eastside finished the season with 11 wins, 13 losses, and in the eleventh spot, leading Goorjian to describe the season as a ‘disaster’. Lucas would go on to be named the league’s Most Improved Player that year in one of the few positives of the Spectres season.
Ron Lemons played six seasons in the NBL, playing for both the Nunawading Spectres and the Eastside Melbourne Spectres. He averaged 16.8 points, 5 rebounds, and 1.4 assists in 149 NBL games.
NBL TOTAL STATISTICS
| SEASON | AGE | TEAM | TEAM RECORD | GP | MINS | PTS | REB | AST | OR | DR | STL | BLK | TO | PF | FGM | FGA | FG% | 3PM | 3PA | 3P% | FTM | FTA | FT% | TS% | EFG% | HS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1988 | 29 | Eastside Melbourne | 11-13 (8) | 23 | 448.0 | 210 | 58 | 21 | 15 | 43 | 8 | 5 | 12 | 46 | 71 | 183 | 39% | 46 | 103 | 45% | 22 | 25 | 88% | 54% | 51% | 21 |
| 1987 | 28 | Eastside Melbourne | 13-13 (8) | 21 | 626.0 | 296 | 109 | 46 | 29 | 80 | 17 | 5 | 32 | 74 | 115 | 281 | 41% | 49 | 121 | 40% | 17 | 25 | 68% | 51% | 50% | 29 |
| 1985 | 26 | Nunawading | 19-7 (3) | 27 | 0.0 | 591 | 169 | 58 | 71 | 98 | 41 | 7 | 33 | 78 | 243 | 494 | 49% | 68 | 137 | 50% | 37 | 43 | 86% | 57% | 56% | 48 |
| 1984 | 25 | Nunawading | 14-9 (7) | 25 | 0.0 | 519 | 135 | 36 | 54 | 81 | 17 | 10 | 57 | 80 | 233 | 446 | 52% | 7 | 24 | 29% | 46 | 55 | 84% | 55% | 53% | 32 |
| 1983 | 24 | Nunawading | 15-7 (5) | 26 | 0.0 | 495 | 136 | 25 | 55 | 81 | 23 | 9 | 26 | 64 | 219 | 376 | 58% | 0 | 0 | 0% | 57 | 75 | 76% | 60% | 58% | 40 |
| 1982 | 23 | Nunawading | 19-7 (3) | 27 | 0.0 | 396 | 146 | 23 | 56 | 90 | 0 | 0 | 35 | 61 | 176 | 328 | 54% | 0 | 0 | 0% | 44 | 55 | 80% | 56% | 54% | 30 | Totals | 149 | 1074 | 2507 | 753 | 209 | 280 | 473 | 106 | 36 | 195 | 403 | 1057 | 2108 | 50.1% | 170 | 385 | 44.2% | 223 | 278 | 80.2% | 56% | 54% | 48 |
NBL PER GAME STATISTICS
| SEASON | AGE | TEAM | TEAM RECORD | GP | MINS | PTS | REB | AST | OR | DR | STL | BLK | TO | PF | FGM | FGA | FG% | 3PM | 3PA | 3P% | FTM | FTA | FT% | TS% | EFG% | HS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1988 | 29 | Eastside Melbourne | 11-13 (8) | 23 | 19.5 | 9.1 | 2.5 | 0.9 | 0.7 | 1.9 | 0.3 | 0.2 | 0.5 | 2.0 | 3.1 | 8.0 | 39% | 2.0 | 4.5 | 45% | 1.0 | 1.1 | 88% | 54% | 51% | 21 |
| 1987 | 28 | Eastside Melbourne | 13-13 (8) | 21 | 29.8 | 14.1 | 5.2 | 2.2 | 1.4 | 3.8 | 0.8 | 0.2 | 1.5 | 3.5 | 5.5 | 13.4 | 41% | 2.3 | 5.8 | 40% | 0.8 | 1.2 | 68% | 51% | 50% | 29 |
| 1985 | 26 | Nunawading | 19-7 (3) | 27 | 0.0 | 21.9 | 6.3 | 2.1 | 2.6 | 3.6 | 1.5 | 0.3 | 1.2 | 2.9 | 9.0 | 18.3 | 49% | 2.5 | 5.1 | 50% | 1.4 | 1.6 | 86% | 57% | 56% | 48 |
| 1984 | 25 | Nunawading | 14-9 (7) | 25 | 0.0 | 20.8 | 5.4 | 1.4 | 2.2 | 3.2 | 0.7 | 0.4 | 2.3 | 3.2 | 9.3 | 17.8 | 52% | 0.3 | 1.0 | 29% | 1.8 | 2.2 | 84% | 55% | 53% | 32 |
| 1983 | 24 | Nunawading | 15-7 (5) | 26 | 0.0 | 19.0 | 5.2 | 1.0 | 2.1 | 3.1 | 0.9 | 0.3 | 1.0 | 2.5 | 8.4 | 14.5 | 58% | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0% | 2.2 | 2.9 | 76% | 60.1% | 58% | 40 |
| 1982 | 23 | Nunawading | 19-7 (3) | 27 | 0.0 | 14.7 | 5.4 | 0.9 | 2.1 | 3.3 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 1.3 | 2.3 | 6.5 | 12.1 | 54% | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0% | 1.6 | 2.0 | 80% | 55.9% | 54% | 30 | Total | 149 | 7.2 | 16.8 | 5.1 | 1.4 | 1.9 | 3.2 | 0.7 | 0.2 | 1.3 | 2.7 | 7.1 | 14.1 | 50.1% | 0.0 | 0.0 | 44.2% | 1.1 | 2.6 | 80.2% | 56% | 54% | 48 |
CAREER HIGHS
| POINTS | REBOUNDS | ASSISTS | STEALS | BLOCKS | TURNOVERS | TRIPLE DOUBLES | 48 | 13 | 6 | 5 | 3 | 10 | 0 |
|---|
COLLEGE
Lemons played college basketball at Northern Iowa, As a freshman in 1975-76 he began a four-year career under head coach Jim Berry that finished with 65 team wins across his time in Cedar Falls.
He played from 1975-76 through 1978-79 and finished as one of the most productive forwards in program history with 1,476 career points and 760 career rebounds.
That total placed him among Northern Iowa’s all-time leading scorers and rebounders, and he later remained part of the small group of Panthers to record at least 1,000 points, 700 rebounds and 200 assists in a career.
Lemons was also a four-year starter for Northern Iowa and formed part of a strong late-1970s core that included teammates such as Mark Long, Jay Imhoff, Ron Hadley, Mike Kemp, Randy Richards and Rod Underwood, with Bill Jones joining during his senior season.
During his time with the Panthers, Northern Iowa competed first in the North Central Conference before later moving into the Mid-Continent Conference structure.
By the end of his career, Lemons had become the program’s second-leading scorer at one point during his senior season before ultimately finishing with 1,476 points for his career.
His rebounding production was equally significant, with 760 boards placing him among the top rebounders in school history.
As a sophomore in 1976-77, Lemons had already developed into one of the team’s central scorers and rebounders while Northern Iowa continued to build under Berry.
As a junior in 1977-78, he helped Northern Iowa post a winning season and his career totals continued to climb toward the top of the school record book.
As a senior in 1978-79, Lemons averaged 16.1 points per game and led Northern Iowa on an 18-11 season that carried the Panthers into the Division II playoffs.
That 1978-79 team also just missed an NIT berth and was one of the best Northern Iowa seasons of the Jim Berry era.
During that senior season, Lemons earned Mid-Continent Conference Player of the Week honors in January 1979 after Northern Iowa beat Eastern Illinois 81-72 and Western Illinois 71-63.
He was later selected all-conference in 1978-79 and closed his college career as one of the key figures in Northern Iowa’s successful transition period at the end of the decade.
Across his four seasons, Lemons established himself as a durable frontcourt scorer and rebounder whose total output of 1,476 points, 760 rebounds and 200-plus assists kept his name prominent in Northern Iowa’s historical leaderboards long after his career ended.
Across 104 career games, Lemons averaged 14.2 points, 7.3 rebounds and just over 2.0 assists per game, while converting 494 field goals for a .474 career field-goal percentage and 488 free throws for a .800 free-throw percentage.
His sophomore season in 1976-77 already showed that all-around production, as he was identified as Northern Iowa’s leading scorer and rebounder at 14.7 points and 8.3 rebounds per game late in the year, and he was part of an 84-72 upset of tenth-ranked Mankato State in February 1977.
By 1978-79, Lemons’ senior campaign also included 247 rebounds and 66 assists, and during the season’s stretch run he had moved into second place on Northern Iowa’s career scoring list while the Panthers stood 14-7 late in February.
In the longer arc of Northern Iowa history, his career totals have continued to keep him in the program’s top tier, including a place in the top 10 in career scoring and career rebounding and continued recognition as one of the few Panthers to pair at least 1,000 points with 700 rebounds and 200 assists in one college career.
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