Frank Ramsey

• Born: July 13, 1931
• Birthplace: Corydon, Kentucky
• Died: July 8, 2018
• Place of death: Madisonville, Kentucky

Sport: Basketball

Early Life

Frank Vernon Ramsey Jr. was born in Madisonville, Kentucky, on July 13, 1931, to Frank Sr. and Sara Ramsey. Playing basketball and baseball and regularly attending church with his mother were major parts of his early life. He was also known for his colorful antics on and off the basketball court. He became an outstanding high school player and was a 1948 high school basketball All-American. After graduation, Ramsey left Madisonville to attend the University of Kentucky, where he played basketball for Adolph Rupp.

The Road to Excellence

When the Kentucky Wildcats opened the 1950–51 season, they had high hopes for Ramsey. He exceeded all expectations. Like others before him, Ramsey learned quickly that the Kentucky Wildcats were more than a great team: they were a lifestyle. People defied doctors’ orders to go to games. Thousands of fans listened avidly to Kentucky games on radio, since tickets were almost impossible for many fans to get. Even scrimmages usually drew nine thousand spectators.

Ramsey became a part of this rich basketball tradition quickly. As a sophomore he was a leader on a Kentucky team that had a 32–2 record and won the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) championship. His 10.1-points-per-game scoring average and 434 rebounds playing the guard position influenced others in the Southeastern Conference (SEC); Ramsey was selected as the SEC’s outstanding sophomore for the 1950–51 season. He was mentioned as an All-American in many polls.

Kentucky continued to dominate national college basketball during Ramsey's junior year as the Wildcats finished 29–3. Ramsey played in all thirty-two games, averaged 15.9 points, and had 383 rebounds.

In the midst of the Wildcats’ success, though, trouble was brewing. The Kentucky team was placed on probation during the 1952–53 season for recruiting violations and was forbidden to play in NCAA contests. Instead, the team played scrimmage games.

In the 1953–54 season, Ramsey teamed with another All-American, Cliff Hagan, to lead Kentucky to the Wildcats’ first perfect season, 25–0, and the SEC Championship. However, the Wildcats rejected an NCAA tournament bid because Ramsey, Hagan, and another senior were declared ineligible for tournament play.

Ramsey left Kentucky after helping lead the Wildcats to an 86–5 record in three seasons. He scored 1,344 points during his University of Kentucky career, averaging 14.7 points per game. He was awarded the school’s Chandler Trophy in recognition of his leadership, scholarship, character, and ability.

The Emerging Champion

After his graduation, Ramsey was drafted by the Boston Celtics of the National Basketball Association (NBA). After playing his rookie season in 1954–55 and then completing a brief military service tour as a jailer at Ft. Knox, Kentucky, he rejoined the Celtics and became an integral part of seven NBA Championship teams in eight years.

Ramsey late said that he haggled with the Celtics only once about money—during his rookie season in 1954. He and Red Auerbach, the Celtics’ coach and manager, agreed on a salary of $8,000. After that Ramsey let the Celtics pay him whatever salary they thought he was worth. The most he was ever paid was $20,000 a year. Known as the "Kentucky Colonel," Ramsey was always ready to play a game and did whatever it took to win. He was a confident player who excelled in "clutch" situations. All his averages went up in playoff games.

Ramsey was instrumental in bringing the Celtics its first NBA title in 1957. The Celtics’ championship playoff series with the St. Louis Hawks was tied at the start of the seventh and final game. In double overtime, Ramsey made an off-balance twenty-foot jump shot to put Boston ahead 124–122, and the Celtics went on to win, 125–123.

Ramsey became the first "sixth man" in professional basketball, as a talented player who did not feature in the five-person starting lineup but was used more prominently than most bench reserves. He was capable of playing in the backcourt or up front. The Celtics often turned to him to break the game open in a matter of minutes, as other teams often tended to play less aggressively against substitutes. He gave the Celtics a needed spark when the team's starters were resting, especially late in games, a strategy that soon proved influential across the league.

Continuing the Story

Ramsey was an integral part of a Boston era that included other Celtics and greats such as Bill Russell, Tom Heinsohn, Sam and K. C. Jones, Bob Cousy, Jim Loscutoff, and Bill Sharman. He was the perfect sixth man, a versatile and steady performer as well as a real producer for the Celtics. His personal best season statistically was 1957–58, when he averaged 16.5 points per game and had 504 rebounds.

Ramsey played nine seasons for the Celtics before retiring in 1964. In his last six seasons the Celtics won the championship every year. In the nine seasons he played for Boston, Ramsey scored 8,378 points and averaged 13.4 points per game, a considerable achievement for a player in a reserve role. His uniform number 23 was retired by the Celtics. Legendary Celtics coach Red Auerbach dubbed him the most versatile player ever to play in the NBA.

At the end of Ramsey's playing career, Auerbach asked him to serve as an assistant coach for the Celtics. Because of the instability associated with coaching, Ramsey gracefully declined. A few years later, he gave coaching a try with the Kentucky Colonels of the American Basketball Association (ABA). After guiding the Colonels into the ABA playoffs and losing, he chose to leave the position after only one year at the helm.

In 1981, in recognition of his three years as a Kentucky Wildcat varsity player and his play for the Boston Celtics, Ramsey was elected to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.

After his retirement, Ramsey returned to Madisonville, where he became a successful businessman and banker. Frank also served as a member of the University of Kentucky Board of Trustees.

Personal Life

Ramsey's wife, Jean, was born on the same day as him, one hour later, in Lexington, Kentucky. They married when they were twenty-three. The couple had two sons and a daughter. The family's home was destroyed by a tornado in 2005; Ramsey was home at the time but was not hurt. He died at the age of eighty-six on July 8, 2018, in Madisonville after suffering an aneurysm two weeks earlier.

Bibliography

Ballard, Chris. "Frank Ramsey, Celtics Sixth Man." Sports Illustrated 94, no. 9 (February 26, 2001): 14.

Bjarkman, Peter C. Boston Celtics Encyclopedia. Champaign, Ill.: Sports, 2002.

Goldstein, Richard. "Frank Ramsey, First Among 'Sixth Men' in the NBA, Dies at 86." The New York Times, 8 July 2018,www.nytimes.com/2018/07/08/obituaries/frank-ramsey.html. Accessed 20 Nov. 2018.

Hubbard, Jan, and David J. Stern. The Official NBA Encyclopedia. New York: Doubleday, 2000.

Shaughnessy, Dan. Ever Green: The Boston Celtics, a History in the Words of Their Players, Coaches, Fans, and Foes, from 1946 to the Present. New York: St. Martin’s Press, 1991.