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One of the most prolific scorers in Old Dominion University basketball history, RonnieValentine, a 6-7 forward out of nearby Norfolk Catholic High School became the Univeristy'sall-time leading scorer with 2,204 career points. During his career from 1976-1980, Valentineled the Big Blue to two National Invitation Tournament post season berths and capped it offhis senior year with the school's first NCAA regional berth.
During his career, Valentine scored in double figures in every game he played for 101consecutive games. He was the first NCAA Division I player to accomplish that mark in 100-plus games. Valentine scored a career high 44 points against Tulane as a sophomore in 1977-78and grabbed a career high 21 rebounds that same season against Georgia Southern.
Valentine, who averaged 21.8 points per game for his career and 9.4 rebounds per game,shot .514 from the floor and .730 from the line. He was named Associated Press honorablemention All-American in 1979 and 1980. He led Old Dominion in scoring all four seasons heplayed, and held five school records.
Valentine hauled in a career 949 rebounds which ranks him sixth all-time at Old Dominion, averaging 9.4 per game. He scored 30 or more points 11 times in his career and his21.8 career scoring average is third best in school history.
Three of the four years he played, Old Dominion won 73 games. As a freshman, the team went 25-4, won a then Virginia State record 22 straight games, defeated Georgetown 80-58 in the ECAC South Final, in which Valentine scored 36 points on 17 of 29 shooting. The Monarchs then lost to Syracuse in the ECAC overall North-South Championship game, 67-64, then lost to Villanova in the NIT, 71-68 in overtime. As a junior, the team went 23-7, and then led the team to a 25-5 record as a senior in 1979-80. That team defeated Navy in the ECAC South Finals, then lost to eventual NCAA runner-up UCLA, in Tempe, AZ.
In 1980, Valentine was selected in the third round of the NBA's draft by the DenverNuggets. He played for Denver, as well as in Italy and in the Continental Basketball League.