Ron Perry (athletic director)
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 Perry on the Marine Corps Base Quantico basketball team | |
| Biographical details | |
|---|---|
| Born | May 22, 1932 |
| Died | October 25, 2024 (aged 92) |
| Alma mater | College of the Holy Cross |
| Playing career | |
| Basketball | |
| 1951–1954 | Holy Cross |
| Baseball | |
| 1952–1954 | Holy Cross |
| Coaching career (HC unless noted) | |
| Basketball | |
| 1959–1972 | Catholic Memorial School |
| Baseball | |
| 1960–1972 | Catholic Memorial School |
| Administrative career (AD unless noted) | |
| 1959–1972 | Catholic Memorial School |
| 1972–1998 | Holy Cross |
| Head coaching record | |
| Overall | 292–34 (Basketball) 186–53 (Baseball) |
| Accomplishments and honors | |
| Championships | |
| 1952 College World Series (as player) 1954 National Invitation Tournament (as player) 2x Massachusetts state basketball champion (as coach) | |
| Awards | |
| 1957 United States Armed Forces Athlete of the Year | |
Ronald Stanley Perry (May 22, 1932 – October 25, 2024) was an American athlete, coach, and athletics administrator who served as athletic director at the College of the Holy Cross from 1972 to 1998.
Perry was born on May 22, 1932. He was one of three sons born to Portuguese immigrants Manuel to Tiolinda Pereira, who Americanized their name to Perry. Perry a standout athlete at Somerville High School and is the school's all-time leading scorer in basketball. He led Somerville to a state championship his junior year and to the New England title game as a senior. He also led the school's baseball team to the state championship game his senior year.[1]
Perry attended the College of the Holy Cross, where he pitched for the Holy Cross Crusaders baseball team and played point guard for the basketball team. As a sophomore, he helped lead Holy Cross to victory in the 1952 College World Series. As a senior he pitched a no-hitter against Harvard on his 22nd birthday. He finished with a career record of 23–2. As a junior, Perry was the second leading scorer on the Crusaders' basketball team (averaging 13.3 points per game) behind Togo Palazzi and helped lead Holy Cross to the Elite Eight in the 1953 NCAA basketball tournament. The following year he took a lesser scoring role in favor of Palazzi and newcomer Tom Heinsohn. As a senior, Perry averaged 12.6 points on a Holy Cross team that won the 1954 National Invitation Tournament.[1]
Perry was drafted in the 4th Round of the 1954 NBA draft by the Boston Celtics, but instead decided to sign with the Milwaukee Braves. However, his playing career was halted by a three-year stint in the United States Marine Corps.[2] While in the Marines, he played on the Marine Corps Base Quantico team with future Basketball Hall of Famer Richie Guerin.[3] In 1957 he was named the United States Armed Forces Athlete of the Year in both basketball and baseball.
He attended spring training with the Braves in 1958, but at 26 years old, decided it was too late to begin a baseball career and returned to Massachusetts to coach and officiate.[4]
Coaching
In 1959, Perry became the athletic director at Catholic Memorial School and established the school's basketball and baseball programs. He led the basketball team to a 292–34 record, including two state basketball titles, five Tech tournament championships, and ten consecutive Catholic Conference championships.[5] He also coached the baseball team to a 186–53 record. Perry was offered the position of director of recreation for the city of Boston in 1971, but turned it down to remain at Catholic Memorial.[6]
