This is very sad to learn. Although I only got to know Gene Ransom over the course of two games, he influenced me as a coach and I'm grateful for what he taught me.
I first met and coached against Gene in 2000-2001 when I was a first year Frosh head coach at Redwood High in Marin. I was a young and inexperienced coach and since I did not grow up in the Bay Area, I was not unaware of him and his amazing basketball accomplishments as a player at Berkeley High and later Cal Berkeley.
My Frosh team was a very solid and when we first played Gene and his outstanding 2000-2001 Berkeley Yellowjackets they crushed us by 40 points! It was an eye-opening experience for my group as his team was physical, played extremely hard, and had an edge that intimidated my team. Following the game, I was fired up and made it very clear to Gene that I was not happy that his team continued to press until the final buzzer.
However, I was surprised when he suggested for us to sit down to discuss the game. I was humbled as he explained that it was critical for him to coach his 15th player as hard as he coached his best player and to become a great pressing team he needed ALL of his players to press. Although the conversation did not lessen the sting of defeat any less, I respected his explanation and appreciated how hard he coached ALL of his players equally.
About a week later we had the opportunity to play his Berkeley Frosh team again and this time we scraped and competed against their suffocating full court press for 3/4 of the game, but ultimately lost by about 15 points. Following the game, Gene made it a point to come see me and compliment our team's improvement and told me that he could tell I had been coaching our 15th man as hard as our best player!
A few weeks later, I told my father, a long-time Varsity basketball coach in Sacramento, the story of coaching against Gene Ransom and his incredible Frosh team, he laughed and commented, "if you thought he was difficult to coach against, you should have seen him as a player. You got your butt kicked by a legend!"
The coaching advice Gene shared with me in 2001 stills rings clear for today and I'm thankful for the opportunity to have coached against him. He taught me that although coaching philosophies can differ amongst coaches, it is only the team's coach that truly knows what is best for his players and that you must coach your lesser talented players as hard as you coach your better players if you want to succeed.
And succeed they did as his team went undefeated that season!
Rest in peace Gene and prayers to his family, closest friends, and former players!
abc7news.com
