By Kevin Hunt, Correspondent, The Times
Ramzee Stanton in his days as a standout player at West Chester University. The Coatesville native went on to have long and productive professional career in basketball, playing mostly in South America before retiring in late 2014,
Remember the story of the most opinionated greatest NBA basketball player of all time, Michael Jordan; how he was cut from the team in his 10th grade year? And then how his game improved greatly over the next two years and ended up on scholarship under the legendary coach, Dean Smith? How he grew another three inches at University of North Carolina and was drafted 3rd in the NBA draft as a 6’6” guard?
Well, there is another local player who has a similar story, but never received as much notoriety, some 18 years ago. But in his own way, with the right attitude and hard work, he reminds us all that “anything is possible”, no matter if you are currently overlooked as a participating athlete. I am referring to Ramzee Stanton, who as he stated, “I was raised in Philadelphia, but grew up in basketball, in Coatesville.”
He grew up in Philadelphia, and went out for the basketball team in his sophomore season for the first time at Northeast High School, and made the team to the surprise of his parents, who didn’t know he was even interested. He became a projected starter for his upcoming junior year, but then suddenly had move to Coatesville. Even though he made the JV team, he only came off the bench most of the year. To be quite frank, most 11th graders, coming off the bench, should not really be on the team. But given the opportunity, he worked out late spring and summer, with the hard nose workout specialist, Coatesville’s (at that time) assistant coach, Ricky Hicks, and Coatesville/ eventual UCONN star, Richard Hamilton. The hard work of running hills early in the morning, and a greater exposure to AAU and the Summer League helped sharpen and improved his basketball skills before entering his high school senior year.
The formerly unknown “new kid on the block”, ended up starting for the Red Raiders. I remember personally attending games and not sitting to far from his #1 fan, his dad, George “Bobby” Stanton, and telling him, “Where did he come from? If only your son had one just one more year [with the Coatesville team], they might go all the way (to the state playoffs)”. Ramzee admits that he really didn’t even want to come to Coatesville, “as it was like starting all over again, in a place where he didn’t even know anyone”. And now, instead of starting basketball on a varsity team as a junior (at Northeast), he barely makes the JV team in the traditionally highly competitive Coatesville environment.
Technically, Ramzee was ‘a hidden diamond in the middle’ in the area of notoriety, as he played right after the eventual NBA Detroit Piston All Star, Rip Hamilton, and the other eventual McDonald’s All American/Seton Hall great, John Allen, who eventually led Coatesville to its first boys, PA AAAA State Championship in 2001. John as a 6’5” 9th grade center/forward, started alongside Stanton in the front court, as they won the Ches-Mont League title together against a very good West Chester East squad in 1997-98 season. The difference? Ramzee was only 6’3”, which at the next level of collegiate basketball would be too small at the forward position, right?
Well, Stanton’s exploits continued at West Chester University two years later, where he was selected Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference, First Team East Division all four years! Huh? Besides winning the East PSAC Championship twice (2000 and 2002), he was the only WCU player ever to be selected as a Division II First Team, All-American in his senior year. While playing under the legendary basketball coach, Dick Delaney, Ramzee is now all over the record books for a career, in points scored (3rd), rebounds (2nd), free throw attempts (2nd), and career field goals (2nd). His 17.6 average for a season stands out as 4th best in school history. Like Michael Jordan, it didn’t hurt that he grew another 1 3/4 inches while playing at the university. But all in all, Playing at barely 6’5” is still small for a collegiate small forward position, besides considerations at the pro level.
But things went south for a moment in the determined basketball star’s life. After his senior season accolades at WCU, he suffered a major knee injury, only weeks before an NBA tryout. This set him back for 13 months, as he torn up his ligaments, while playing in a Summer League in Kennett Square. But with rehab and determination to fulfill his dream, Ramzee ended up playing pro basketball in Argentina, where he had what he described as “unbelievable rewarding moments”, and too many trophies and awards too count. In his 10 years in Argentina, Ramzee was apart of 6 Championships, with two of the 5 teams he played on, Teams Ben Hur and Regatas. In his second year alone, he was named to the Ideal Team as a small forward, while making the more prestigious All Star team in 2011 as well. With former ambitions to play in the NBA but more than likely, in Europe, Stanton looks back and realized how the injury introduced him to a whole new world. The language at first was a difficult barrier, but he adjusted and caught on enough to be social and eat out with the other players and coaches.
Besides seeing other former collegiate and NBA players from the United States playing in South America, he would travel inland as well as in other Latin American countries, playing in various specialty leagues and games.
Some of his pleasant memories, is remembering seeing Rip Hamilton in Miami, FL and Rip called him out, in the midst of all the famed people of the NBA, and respected him as one of the hometown (from Coatesville) stars. He also recalled the days of seeing Argentinian Mano Ginobili of the San Antoni Spurs, at the home of his parents, because as he played basketball and was visiting with his older brother, Sebastian. Ramzee further shared how he played against a lot of the players who won the 2004 Olympic Gold Medal for Argentina, led by Manuel ‘Mano’ Ginobili and Luis Scola (Houston Rockets and now the Toronto Raptors); therefore beating at the heavily favored USA team, with the likes of NBA stars: Allen Iverson, Dwayne Wade, Carmelo Anthony, and Tim Duncan, in the semi-finals. Ramzee stated how that was simply one of the greatest sports storylines ever in the history of the nation and it still echoes a decade later within the country.
Ramzee is now officially retired at the end of December 2014, after his knees were too hampered to continue his successful career. Ramzee currently lives and works in Philadelphia, in real estate investments and wants to serve as an agent/advisor with hard working collegiate players, who desire to play professionally in their career, both inland and overseas. Stanton wants to give back some of the good fortune he was blessed with as he realizes that he experienced things, including the number of championships that most players only dream about. Ramzee gleans in the fields of gratefulness, especially for his parents. And even though his father passed away several years ago, he and his mother, Deborah Stanton of Philadelphia, remains a constant inspiration to him.
Not bad at all, for a young man who barely made the JV team as an 11th grader and served as one of the last players to come off the bench, to play if called upon at all.
