RonaldGaines

Career
• Transferred to Kentucky in 2023 after four seasons at Temple and one at Illinois
• Saw action in 31 career games as a long snapper (28 at Temple and three at UK)
• Three-year letterwinner at Temple and two-time member of the American Athletic Conference All-Academic Team

2023 – Senior
• Elected to return for a sixth year, taking advantage of the NCAA’s ruling to grant an extra year of eligibility due to the COVID-19 pandemic
• Saw action in three games before suffering a season-ending knee injury in practice

2022 – Senior (Temple)
• Provided depth at long snapper
• Earned a letter

2021 – Junior (Temple)
• Served as the primary long snapper on punts and FG/PATs
• Saw action in 11 games
• Earned a varsity letter

2020 – Sophomore (Temple)
• Started the season as the primary long snapper on punts
• Saw action in six games
• Surprised his coaches and teammates when he returned to campus after being home from March to June by dropping nearly 50 pounds (he started the weight loss journey at the conclusion of the 2019 season)
• Named to the American Athletic Conference All-Academic Team

2019 – r-Freshman (Temple)
• Transferred to Temple as a walk-on in the summer
• Made his debut at Buffalo as the long snapper on punts and earned Special Teams Player of the Game
• Retained that role for the remainder of the season, seeing action in 11 games
• Named to the American Athletic Conference All-Academic Team
• Earned a letter

2018 – Freshman (Illinois)
• Redshirt season
• Practiced with the team

High School
• Served as the long snapper and also played offensive line at Simeon High in Chicago
• Played for head coach Dante Culbreath from 2015-18
• Selected to play in Blue Gray All-Star Game in Dallas
• Also lettered in wrestling as a junior and senior

Personal
• Born in Chicago, Illinois
• Son of Kenyatta and Ronald Gaines Jr.
• Both parents are long-time Chicago police officers
• Mom, Kenyatta, who is also a professional singer, is known as the “Voice of the Chicago Police Department” … She also performs with Chicago-based blues band, NuBlu
• Siblings are Cameron and Kira
• Grandfather, Ronald Gaines Sr., played football at Western Illinois
• Graduated from Temple in May of 2022 with a degree in political science … Went on to earn a master’s degree in business innovation, management and entrepreneurship in May of 2023 … At the time of this writing was working on a graduate certificate in sport, fitness, & recreation management at UK

Ron Says
• Nickname is “Ron” and “RG3”
• One thing most people don’t know about him is that he has a background in modeling and acting
• The best advice he’s ever received is “being weak is nothing to be ashamed of but staying weak is.”
• His go-to karaoke song is “Careless Whisper” by George Michael
• Besides playing football, he’s also good at painting