A New Home on Hawk Hill
By PAT DOLENTE
Updated 3:15 PM EST, Fri, Jun 26, 2009
St. Joseph's basketball teams await the end of the summer so they can finally enter their brand new 20,000 square-foot home.
When the air turns cool and leaves start to change color, the Ramsay Basketball Center on the St. Joe's campus will roar from the students as they cheer on their Hawks at their new home.
Dr. Jack Ramsay, who also graduated from the University, coached St. Joe’s to 10 postseason appearances during the 1950s and 1960s, including a trip to the Final Four in 1961, ESPN.com reported.
But he didn’t stop there.
Dr. Ramsay would later go to the NBA to coach the Sixers, expansion Buffalo Braves, the Portland Trial Blazers and the Indiana Pacers. He guided the Blazers to nine playoff appearances and the 1977 NBA Championship in 10 seasons in Portland.
When Ramsay retired from basketball in 1987, he left with the second-best coaching record in the NBA. He was elected into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame in 1992 and continues to do color analysis for ESPN Radio.
“There was only one name that belongs on this building,” current Hawks coach Phil Martelli said, according to the Daily News.
The Ramsay Basketball Center comes equipped with a practice court, the exclusive Hall of Fame room (that Martelli doesn’t even have keys for) and a theater.
The center also features “The Delonte West Players’ Lounge” and “The Jameer Nelson Locker Room,” both former Hawks and current NBA players.
Let’s hope a new home will turn the team back into contenders again.
First Published: Jun 26, 2009 1:49 PM EST
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