Ron Radliff (born 1958) is a former professional basketball player who played in the

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

n National Basketball League between 1983 and 1992. He won the NBL Championship with the

Brisbane Bullets The Brisbane Bullets are an Australian professional men's basketball team in the National Basketball League (NBL) based in Brisbane, Queensland. They competed from 1979 to 2008, and returned to the league in 2016. Brisbane were one of ten NBL ...

in 1985 and 1987 before finishing his career as part of the Gold Coast Rollers. Radliff is a naturalised Australian citizen. Radliff, more commonly known as The Rat, was born and raised in Enumclaw, Washington. He graduated from Enumclaw Senior High School in Washington State in 1976. He then attended and graduated from

Western Washington University Western Washington University (WWU or Western) is a public university in Bellingham, Washington, United States. The northernmost university in the contiguous United States, WWU was founded in 1893 as the state-funded New Whatcom Normal School, s ...

Career

Ronnie The Rat landed in Australia in 1983 as an import

point guard The point guard (PG), also called the one or the point, is one of the Basketball positions, five positions in a regulation basketball game. A point guard has perhaps the most specialized role of any position and is usually the shortest player ...

for NBL team the

. Standing , Radliff was known for his long curly hair and his brilliant outside shooting, though he was also a tenacious defender who never gave opponents an inch. Radliff spent six seasons with the Bullets under the successful coaching of Brian Kerle. As teammate to future NBL Hall of Famers Larry Sengstock, Cal Bruton, Leroy Loggins and Danny Morseu, The Rat helped the team to win its first NBL Championship in 1985 against the

Adelaide 36ers The Adelaide 36ers are an Australian professional men's basketball team in the National Basketball League (NBL). The 36ers are the only team in the league representing the state of South Australia and are based in the state's capital of Adela ...

, and again in 1987 against the Perth Wildcats. During his time in Brisbane Radliff also helped the team to the 1984 Grand Final against the Canberra Cannons and the 1986 GF against the 36ers. 1986 was the first time the NBL used a 3-game series instead of a single championship game. Radliff left Brisbane after they failed to make the playoffs in 1989 and joined the newly formed Gold Coast Cougars in 1990 (ironically Brisbane would make the NBL Grand Final in 1990, going down to Perth in three games). After three seasons on the Gold Coast (including a team name change from the Cougars to the Gold Coast Rollers before the 1992 season), Radliff retired after the 1992 NBL season. Ron Radliff currently sits equal 4th on the NBL All-time 3pt% list having hit 43.5% from outside the arc during his NBL career.

Coaching

Radliff was an assistant coach of the

Gold Coast Blaze The Gold Coast Blaze were an Australian men's professional basketball team which competed in the National Basketball League (NBL). The Blaze played five seasons in the NBL between 2007 and 2012, and played their home games at the Gold Coast C ...

who played in the NBL from its inception in 2007 until the club pulled out of the league at the end of the 2011-12 season.Gold Coast Blaze Coaching Staff 2011-12
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Honour roll

NBL career stats

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Radliff, Ron Living people American expatriate basketball people in Australia Brisbane Bullets players Gold Coast Rollers players Basketball players from King County, Washington Point guards Western Washington Vikings men's basketball players People from Enumclaw, Washington American men's basketball players 1958 births 20th-century American sportsmen