Ron Viskozki

Ron Viskozki attended Taylorville High School from 1949 thru 1953 and was a four year letter winner in both basketball and baseball.    Viskoski, started at guard for the Tornadoes Basketball team for three years and played on two state tournament teams. As a freshman, in 1950, he came off the bench and added fifteen points to the Tornadoes offense that reached the first round of the state tournament in Champaign. . During his sophomore and junior years, he teamed up with Bill Ridley to create one of the best guard tandems in the state. In 1952, the Tornadoes advanced to the quarterfinals of the state tournament and Viskozki was selected to the All-State Tournament Second Team.     An All Mid-State Conference honorable mention selection during his sophomore and junior seasons, Viskozki was selected to the All-Conference first team his senior year. During that season he scored 427 points in 26 games to lead the Tornadoes to a 19-7 record and their third consecutive Mid-State Conference Championship.     During his career at Taylorville, Viskozki scored a total of 953 points, placing him 9th among the all-time Tornado scoring leaders. His 33 points in state tournament play, places him fourth among Taylorville scorers, following only hall of famers, Johnny Orr, Bill Ridley and Ron Bontemps.

In the spring, Viskozki was a four year starter at shortstop for “Red” Bland and the Tornadoes baseball team. During those four years, the Tornadoes won two Mid-State Conference Championships, and in 1952 won both the Regional and Sectional Tournaments, and were the first Taylorville team to advance to the state finals.

After leaving Taylorville, Viskozki enrolled at Centenary College in Shreveport, Louisiana, where he instantly made an impact on both the basketball and baseball teams.

A four year starter on both teams, he led the Gents basketball team in free throw percentage in 1956 and ended his career as the fourth all time free throw percentage leader with a 81.6%. One of the high points of his college career was in in the season opener against Texas A & M, when he was 13 or 18 from the floor and hit on five free throws for a 31 point total, to help lead Centenary to a 67-59 victroy over the Southwest Conference foe. He continues that year as the team leader in field goal percentage and was elected team captain.

He was twice named to the Louisiana Invitational All-Tournament Team and in 1975 was selected to Centenary’s All- Quarter Century Team. Ron Viskozki still lives in Shreveport and it is my pleasure to present to you Mr. Ron Viskozki.