He was a captain of the United States men's basketball team, which won the gold medal in the 1952 Olympic Games.

Bontemps grew up a few blocks from childhood friend and teammate Johnny Orr, who would later embark on a storied collegiate coaching career.

In the championship game, a 56–33 victory over Elgin High School, Bontemps was the leading scorer, scoring 18 points, with Orr adding 17.

You don’t realize it until much later, what a helluva thing it was.”[5] After high school graduation in 1944, Bontemps joined the U.S. Army and served in World War II.

That was a fun time.”[6] Bontemps scored 1,770 points in 83 career games over three years at Beloit College, a school record that held until 2006.

Five members of the Caterpillar Diesels (Frank McCabe, Bontemps, Dan Pippin, Marc Freiberger and Howie Williams) made the 14-player roster.

Seven University of Kansas players including Naismith Hall of Fame inductee Clyde Lovellette were on the roster.

On August 2, 1952, Bontemps and Team USA secured a 36–25 Gold Medal Game victory over the Soviet Union.

[6] Ron Bontemps' son Kevin, played basketball at the University of Illinois from 1980 to 1983, after a career at Morton High School.

And my older brother, Gary, we were always on the driveaway or in a gym having fun, with dad showing us things and encouraging me to work on different aspects of my game.”[13] At age 90, Ron Bontemps died on May 13, 2017, at Rosewood Care Center in Peoria, Illinois.