Friends of Basketball

Roland Raguse

Year Inducted: 1991

Category: Friends of Basketball

Schools / Organizations:
Kankakee High School
IBCA

Biography:  Roland Raguse graduated from Kankakee High School in 1943. Although he never competed on athletic teams, Raguse was a follower of all sports and their participants. Following service in the U.S. Marines during World War II, Raguse started following the sports scene even more closely, especially while younger brother Norm was a basketball player at Kankakee. During the mid-1960s Raguse attended his first state high school tournament and a new love affair was born. The retired General Motors employee began making yearly pilgrimages to Champaign. With the birth of the two-class state tournament Raguse doubled his time in Champaign. It was while attending state tourney games that Raguse began doing some tasks at IBCA functions as needed. Always around the hospitality rooms, Raguse developed a great association with coaches from around the state and was considered a fixture at state tourney time.  Roland Raguse died on January 9, 2000 at the age of 76.