Hall of Fame
Ron Haden came to Pitt-Johnstown after playing basketball two season at Sinclair Junior College in Ohio and accomplished something most players are not able to do...score over 1,000 points in two years.
Mr. Haden, a native of Dayton, Ohio and a graduate of Jefferson High School, joined Head Coach Bob Rukavina’s Mountain Cats for the 1993-94 season and promptly led the team with 552 points and 209 rebounds. Although the team went 12-15 that year, his efforts helped to build the foundation that turned the Pitt-Johnstown basketball program around.
As a senior in 1994-95, Mr. Haden finished with 482 points, second on the team behind Earnest Sylver’s 532 points. He again led the Mountain Cats in rebounding with 207 and guided Pitt-Johnstown to a 17-9 record to mark just the second winning season in 16 years.
Although he graduated in 1995 with a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Sociology, Mr. Haden was a key part in what happened next. The winning continued and Coach Rukavina and the Mountain Cats posted a 21-6 record in 1995-96 and a 24-5 record in 1996-97. Following each of those seasons, Pitt-Johnstown earned berths in the NCAA Division II Regional Tournament to mark the first and second in Pitt-Johnstown men’s basketball history.
Mr. Haden finished his two-year career with 1,034 points and ranked seventh on the Mountain Cat Scoring List. Today, Mr. Haden ranks 29th on that list.
His name is still etched in the Pitt-Johnstown record books. Mr. Haden’s 19.9 points per game ranks second on the Pitt-Johnstown Career Scoring Average List, while his 8.0 rebounds per game are tied with fellow hall of famer Justin Walther (1996-2000) for sixth-place on the All-Time Career Rebound Average List.
In 1996, Mr. Haden was invited and participated in a basketball tournament in Venezuela.
Following his graduation from Pitt-Johnstown, Mr. Haden returned to his hometown and began working with at-risk youth at the Montgomery County Family Court in Dayton.
In 1998, he moved to Houston, Texas where he worked for several years as a Texas parole officer.
Mr. Haden then graduated from the City of Houston Fire Academy and became an EMT/Firefighter where he earned recognition and honors for his service. He also owned and operated Providence EMS until 2008.
Unfortunately, that year, Mr. Haden was in a serious car accident and was comatose for a month. Mr. Haden suffered a brain injury and had to be retrained to walk and talk, which forced him into an early retirement. In spite of all of the misfortune, Ron continues to exercise daily and continues to be health conscious.
Mr. Haden is a true family-man who is dedicated to making sure his family is taken care of. He is very active in his daughter’s life and helped her with her healing process after she was hit by a vehicle in 2017. Mr. Haden will always go above and beyond for his one and only daughter. Just like Kobe Bryant, he is a true GIRL DAD.
Mr. Haden continues to remain active in the sport he loves, serving as a volunteer youth basketball coach at a local YMCA in Houston.
“This honor is one of reassurance that if I put my all into something, mentally and physically, I will be rewarded” Mr. Haden said. “This honor is “Life”.
