Frank Ramsey

Lore & Background

Raised in Madisonville, Kentucky, Ramsey was a multi-sport athlete at the University of Kentucky, playing baseball as well as basketball. Playing under coach Adolph Rupp, Ramsey, as a sophomore in 1951, helped the Wildcats win the NCAA Championship with a 68–58 victory over Kansas State. In the fall of 1952, a point shaving scandal involving three Kentucky players over a four-year period forced Kentucky to forfeit its upcoming season, Ramsey's senior year, as well as that of Cliff Hagan and Lou Tsioropoulos.

Ramsey, Hagan and Tsioropoulos all graduated from Kentucky in 1953 and were selected by the Boston Celtics—Ramsey in the first round. All three returned to Kentucky for one more season despite graduating. After finishing the regular season with a perfect 25–0 record and a #1 ranking, Kentucky declined a bid into the NCAA Tournament because then-existing NCAA rules prohibited graduate students from participating in post-season play. Ramsey also played on Kentucky Wildcats baseball team, earning All-SEC honors as an outfielder in 1951, 1952 and 1954.

Upon completion of his college basketball career, Ramsey scored 1344 points (14.8 ppg), which at the time ranked him fourth in the school's history, and grabbed 1038 rebounds (11.4 rpg), a school record later surpassed by Dan Issel.

Reader's Guide

After playing his rookie season with the Celtics (1954–1955), Ramsey spent one year in the military before rejoining the team. In the eight seasons he played after military service, he was a member of seven championship teams (1957, 1959–1964). He was a major contributor of the Celtics dynasty, playing behind the duo of Bob Cousy and Bill Sharman and playing with Bill Russell, Sam Jones, K. C. Jones, Tom Heinsohn, John Havlicek and Satch Sanders.

In his 623 NBA games Ramsey scored 8378 points for an average of 13.4 points per game. He was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 1981. His #23 is retired by the Celtics. Ramsey's best statistical season was 1957–1958; he averaged 16.5 points and 7.3 rebounds per game.

It was also his only post-military season in which the Celtics did not win the NBA championship; the Bob Pettit-led St. Louis Hawks defeated them in the NBA Finals. Ramsey was also a head coach for one season (1970–71) in the ABA with the Kentucky Colonels. He was named coach 17 games into an 84-game season. While the team went just 32–35 with Ramsey in the regular season, he coached the Colonels into the playoffs.

The Colonels made it all the way to the ABA Finals, where they lost to the Utah Stars in seven games. On June 20, Ramsey was fired and replaced by Joe Mullaney. Prior to coaching in the ABA, Ramsey had been Red Auerbach's first choice to replace his mentor as Celtics coach after Auerbach retired at the end of the 1965–66 season, but Ramsey decided to move back to Madisonville. Auerbach is often credited with creating the sixth man. Ramsey was the first in a series of sixth men who won championship rings with the Celtics.

Did You Know?

• Ramsey's #23 jersey is retired by the Boston Celtics, and his #30 jersey is retired by the University of Kentucky.
• Ramsey's house was destroyed in a tornado on November 15, 2005, but he was found unhurt.
• Ramsey was mentioned in the Married... with Children episode 'If I Could See Me Now' when Al Bundy answered a trivia question about him.