(Photo: Georgia Sports Communications)
Ronnie Hogue, the first Black men’s basketball scholarship student-athlete at the University of Georgia, died Friday morning. He was 69.
A native of Washington, D.C. and residing in Maryland, Hogue arrived in Athens in the fall of 1969. He departed in 1973 as one of the best players of his time, or any other era of basketball for the Bulldogs.
Two years before freshmen became eligible under NCAA rules, Hogue averaged 19.1 points per game on UGA’s freshman squad. He burst upon the scene the following year when, playing largely out of position as a forward, he averaged 16.2 points per game and was named to the SEC’s All-Sophomore by the league’s coaches.
The following year, 1972, was a breakout season for Hogue as he upped his scoring average to 20.5 points per game. In the season’s fifth game, on December 20, 1971, he exploded for a career-high 46 points against LSU, the most ever by a Bulldog in Stegeman Coliseum and second-highest single-game tally in school history. Perhaps more impressive than the scoring total was the fact that Hogue connected on 20-of-23 shots from the floor en route to that output. Hogue was named first-team All-SEC by league coaches that season while also garnering second-team honors from the AP and UPI. As a senior, Hogue averaged 16.5 points per game.
Hogue earned the Joe Jordan Memorial Trophy as a junior as Bulldogs’ MVP and was tabbed the team’s top defensive player as a senior. He also was awarded team’s Tommy Reeder scholarship, which was based on leadership, character and scholarship.
Hogue finished his Georgia career with 1,367 points in just three seasons. At the time, that figure ranked second among UGA’s all-time scoring leaders. Today, he is No. 18 among the Bulldogs’ top scorers but still ranks No. 6 in career scoring average at 17.8 points per game. Hogue is currently ranked No. 9 in field goals attempted (1,186) and No. 10 in field goals made (578) on Georgia’s career leaders ledgers.
Hogue was drafted by the Washington Bullets in the seventh round of the 1973 NBA Draft.
Born October 26, 1950, Hogue was named a prep All-American after leading McKinley Tech High School to the Washington City Championship as a senior. He was named to the All-Interhigh and All-Metropolitan teams following his junior and senior seasons at McKinley.