Welcome back, Oilers! We would like to begin our first Flashback Friday of 2023 with something we recently discovered in the University Archives. The photos below feature a bobblehead of previous head basketball coach, Ron Niekamp. He was the head men's basketball coach for the Oilers for 26 years (Buck, 2011) and he led the men's basketball team to over 500 wins! This bobblehead was meant to commemorate and honor Mr. Niekamp's success. While we cannot identify the origin of this bobblehead, we suspect that the bobbleheads were given out at a special event game or athletics ceremony.
Ron Niekamp was inducted into the Ohio Basketball Hall of Fame in 2013. Click here to learn more about the induction and his time at UF!
Bobblehead Box (Front)
The front of the box features a real photo of Coach Niekamp taken at a basketball game. Compare this to the photo of the bobblehead below!
Ron Niekamp Bobblehead
After comparing bobblehead and the real photo, do you think the bobblehead looks like the real Coach Niekamp?
Bobblehead Box (Back)
The back of the bobblehead box lists the honors and accomplishments of Coach Niekamp during his time as the head basketball coach. It is quite a long list!
References
Buck, D. (2011). Findlay’s Niekamp retires after successful 26-year run. https://www.gliac.org/sports/mbkb/2010-11/news/Niekamp_Retirement_11
Ron Niekamp: 2013 : Inductees : Hall of Fame : Ohio Basketball Hall of Fame. (2013). Ohio Basketball Hall of Fame. https://ohiobasketballhalloffame.com/hall-of-fame/inductees/2013/ron-niekamp.html