Back in 2013, Ramel Bethea was a 6’3″ high school senior with little basketball experience and no college interest whatsoever. In 2025, he’s one of the most inspiring stories in college sports.
After graduating from high school, Bethea decided that college wasn’t right for him at the time and found a job in the produce section at a local Harris Teeter for several years.
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“I didn’t come from a college family,” Bethea told The Coast News. “My dad was a trucking worker, and my mom was a receptionist. We just worked.”
When the pandemic hit in 2020, he decided to enroll in the Navy, where he served our country for five years. While working in the Navy as a mechanic on the USS John C. Stennis, a growth spurt shot him all the way up to 6’9″. That’s when his shipmates encouraged him to give basketball a try.
Bethea spoke to Ball Exclusives and explained that while he’s very gifted athletically, his skillset is still a work in progress.
“I’m so raw with basketball, I don’t even know what I am yet,” Bethea said.
He even said he doesn’t see an NBA comparison in his game yet, but admires LeBron James and Giannis Antetokounmpo.
“It’s hard to name an NBA player that my game compares to but my favorite players are LeBron James and Giannis Antetokounmpo,” Bethea told Ball Exclusives.
Bethea ultimately decided to try out for the Navy men’s basketball team in 2021, securing a spot near the end of the bench. His role expanded the following year and he led the Navy to a second-place finish in the 2022 Armed Forces Men’s and Women’s Basketball Championship.
Eventually, word began to spread of an athletic power forward with a 7’4″ wingspan wreaking havoc on the Armed Forces.
When MiraCosta College reached out to Bethea with an offer to play JUCO basketball in the 2024-25 season, he accepted.
At first, Bethea was surprised by the pace of the JUCO game.
“I thought I was about to come here and dominate these kids. It’s a reality check – once we played our first scrimmage, I could barely make it up and down the court,” Bethea said. “When they say, ‘Can’t teach an old dog new tricks,’ I don’t look at it that way. I am open to learning every day.”
As a 28-year-old freshman, he had an impressive season, putting up averages of 12.7 points and 9.7 rebounds per game while shooting over 56% from the floor. Division 1 programs immediately took notice and by the time he entered the transfer portal, over 25 D-I teams were showing interest.
While he received interest from schools like Texas A&M and Fresno State, he ultimately committed to the Green Bay Phoenix for the 2025-26 season.
“A lot of schools reached out to me again, but Green Bay, they came to one of my games. I started to become more knowledgeable about the politics of basketball throughout the season and started to learn why certain things happen,” Bethea said. “One season and a good recruiting class, that’s all it takes to turn a program around.”
Through the first five games of the season, Bethea is averaging 1.2 blocks in just 7.3 minutes per game while shooting 75% from the floor.
Theoretically, if he was playing 36 minutes a night, he would be on pace for nearly six blocks per game.
As a 29-year-old sophomore with three seasons of eligibility remaining, Bethea is one of the oldest players in college basketball, but for different reasons than most. His case isn’t one that can be attributed to redshirt seasons or reclassifications.
The Green Bay Phoenix struggled under head coach Doug Gottlieb last season, finishing 4-28 overall with a 21-game losing streak.
While he’s likely to be in a limited role this season, Bethea is certainly worth watching when he’s on the court.
James Parker is a sports writer for Ball Exclusives, follow him on X @TheJames_Parker
