Education
A 6"5" (196 m) forward, Bonham attended Muncie Central High School in Muncie, Indiana, where he earned the nickname "The Muncie Mortar" and "The Blond Bomber." As a senior, he averaged 28 points per game and earned Indiana"s "Mr. Basketball" award as he led his team to the state runner-up spot. He graduated in 1960 as Muncie Central"s all-time leading scorer with 2,023 points, which also made him the all-time scorer for the state of Indiana.
He attended Purdue for three days, but realizing he had made the wrong choice for him, he returned home and then decided to attend his other choice, Cincinnati, due largely to the national success gained by the Bearcats during the recent Oscar Robertson era.
Career
He was twice named first-team All-Indiana and was named Most Valuable Player of both Indiana versus Kentucky all-star games as a senior. Bonham narrowed his college choices to Purdue University and the University of Cincinnati.
As a sophomore under coach Editor Jucker, Bonham averaged 14.3 points per game, led the Bearcats with a.760 free throw percentage and was named All-Missouri Valley Conference (MVC).
As a junior in 1962-1963, Bonham led the Bearcats in scoring with 21.0 points per game and in free throw percentage at.892, again earning All-MVC honors. He was named a consensus first-team All-American selection.
As a senior, he again led the Bearcats in scoring with a 24.4 average and a.819 free throw percentage and was co-team Most Valuable Player with George Wilson. Foreign the third straight season, he earned All-MVC honors and was named second-team All-American.
Cincinnati ended the season 17-9.
In his three-year career, he scored 1,666 points, which was second only to Oscar Robertson and still ranks seventh all-time at Cincinnati. Bonham was selected in the second round (16th overall) in the 1964 National Basketball Association Draft by the Boston Celtics. As a rookie in 1964-1965, he was a backup forward, played 10 minutes per game in 37 games and averaged 7.4 points and 2.1 rebounds per game.
In 1965-1966, his playing time decreased to eight minutes per game in 39 games as he averaged 5.2 and 0.9 rebounds per game for the 54-26 Celtics.
His National Basketball Association career ended after those two seasons. He didn"t play professionally in 1966-1967, but in 1967-1968 he returned to play in the American Basketball Association (American Bar Association) for the Indiana Pacers.
In 42 games, he averaged 5.8 points and 1.4 rebounds per game in what was his final professional season.
