Saint Joseph’s honored Hall of Fame coach Jack Ramsay with a building on Friday. According to an Atlantic 10 Conference release, the university named its brand new, two-story, 20,000 square-foot addition to the former Alumni Memorial Fieldhouse after the coach. From now on, the home of the men’s and women’s basketball teams will be the Ramsay Basketball Center.
The Ramsay Center will also house the Athletics Communications Office and the Thomas J. Wynne ’63 Hall of Fame room. Other features include new locker rooms, player lounges and study spaces.
Ramsay graduated from Saint Joseph’s in 1949 and returned in 1955 to start his career as a coach. He went 234-72 in 11 seasons and reached 10 postseason tournaments, including the 1961 Final Four. The Hawk alums also coached in the NBA for 20 years and won a championship in 1977 with the Portland Trail Blazers.
“In coaching, he was the Wilt [Chamberlain] of his era,” said Don DiJulia, Saint Joseph’s athletic director and a former player of Ramsay. “In life he is a renaissance man. His parents wanted him to be a medical doctor and he entered Saint Joseph’s with that in mind, but he couldn’t juggle labs and sports, so he shifted his priorities to teach and coach.”
