As the NBA regular season comes to a close, 1 person who knows plenty about postseason basketball is Ramon Sessions. At Myrtle Beach High School he led his team to the 3A State Championship as a sophomore. As a player at Nevada he made the NCAA tourney 3 straight years from 2005-2007. After making the NBA (where he spent more than a decade), he won his 1st-ever playoff series with the Lakers in 2012 and swept the Raptors in the 1st round as a member of the Wizards in 2015. HoopsHD’s Jon Teitel got to chat with Nevada senior associate AD/senior woman administrator Rhonda Lundin Bennett about Ramon’s life/legacy. Today is Ramon’s 36th birthday so let us be the 1st to wish him a happy 1!
Ramon grew up in South Carolina: what made him choose Nevada? I think that he was recruited late. Coach Mark Fox got to know him and offered him: he really connected with our staff and took a chance on us.
He set a school freshman record with 166 AST and was named to the WAC All-Newcomer team: how was he able to come in and contribute right from the start? He has an amazing court vision/basketball IQ in addition to being talented. He has true PG skills that not a lot of other players have.
A lot of his stats went down during his sophomore year and then went back up during his junior year: what happened? He missed a couple of early games due to a hip injury, which might have contributed to it. We had a fantastic team during his sophomore year so we had a lot of other people doing great things.
In the 2006 WAC tourney title game he had 9 AST in a 7-PT OT win over Utah State: what did it mean to him to win a title? It was a very special night here in Reno. We had a fantastic crowd and it was a special night for everyone in our program.
In the 2007 NCAA tourney he scored 16 PTS in a 6-PT OT win over Creighton: how were they able to pull out the win after Nick Fazekas fouled out with 3 minutes left? That was an amazing game! I think it was the only 1st round game between 2 ranked opponents. After Nick fouled out Ramon and his other teammates knew that they had to step up. We had a lot of depth back then like Marcelus Kemp/Kyle Shiloh if any of the stars fouled out.
He was selected in the 2nd round of the 2007 NBA draft by Milwaukee (8 spots behind Marc Gasol): did he see that as a validation of his college career, or the realization of a lifelong dream of reaching the NBA, or other? It was probably both: his goal was always to get the opportunity to play at the next level. Not many guys get drafted but he had worked so hard his entire life. He is a very humble man who really appreciates everything that basketball has afforded him.
In April of 2008 as a rookie he scored 20 PTS and had a franchise record 24 AST against Chicago (the 3rd-highest single-game total by a rookie in NBA history): what made him such a great PG? It was his court vision. He does not say a lot but you can tell that he is taking everything again. He had great insight into the game and is an incredibly hard worker who excelled to get better every day.
In April of 2009 he had a triple-double with 16 PTS/10 REB/16 AST against the Lakers: how was he able to balance all of the different aspects of his offensive game? He is a playmaker and just loves basketball. He worked so hard on every aspect of his game because that is who he is.
He led the NBA in games played during 3 different seasons: what was the key to his ability to stay healthy and stick around for more than a decade? I am unsure but seeing the way he approached everything in college leads me to believe he just continued to do that at the next level.
When people look back on his career, how do you think that he should be remembered the most? As someone who was willing to do anything he could to help us be successful. He donated $1 million to our program a few years ago and we named our practice facility after him. He developed such a connection to the Reno community that he returns here every summer to run a basketball clinic.