Ray Johnson, 76, a basketball player at Providence College in South Kingstown, has died.
Ray Johnson, a basketball great who helped lead a dynasty at South Kingstown High in the 1960s before moving on to the state’s grandest stage at Providence College in the 1970s, has died. He was 76.
The Friars paid tribute to Johnson on social media Wednesday. According to an obituary placed online by Avery-Storti Funeral Home, Johnson died last Thursday.
Johnson was born in Narragansett and lived there for most of his life. His surviving family members include brother Charles Johnson and his wife Mary Ann, sister Sandra Johnson, daughter Raye Anne Johnson-Seiger and her husband, Gary, niece Kasey and nephew Max, and his former wife, Jacqueline Smith.
“I used to see him on the beach all the time,” South Kingstown athletic director Terry Lynch said late Wednesday. “We’d talk. “Just a nice, nice man—kind of unassuming for what he’d done.”
Six decades ago, the Rebels played in Class C, which was reserved for the state’s lesser institutions. They outperformed their stature because to a core that comprised Johnson (6’7″) and fellow All-State choices Bill Hazard, George Peckham, and Bradley Webster. The program went undefeated in 1964-65 and 1965-66, kicking off a streak of three straight Interscholastic League championships.
“He had a legacy,” future Providence teammate Ernie DiGregorio said early Thursday. “A lot of people knew him, I believe, more as a high school player than as a college player.”
The first title drive was tough sledding. South Kingstown slipped past two other perfect teams in the semifinals and finals, outlasting Rogers and Sacred Heart. The championship matchup went five overtimes, with Johnson collecting 28 points and 23 rebounds in a 65-61 victory.
The Rebels found it easier to repeat. They outscored four state tournament opponents by a total 132 points, including a 69-46 victory against Sacred Heart in a rematch. Johnson went on to prep at Tabor Academy and North Yarmouth Academy before joining the Friars.
Johnson’s college career coincided with Dave Gavitt replacing Joe Mullaney on the Providence bench. By the time Johnson graduated in 1970-71, the Friars were poised to make national headlines. They overcame Louisville and lost to North Carolina in two NIT games at Madison Square Garden in March, finishing 20-8.
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