Former Ashland University women’s basketball player and current Ohio Dominican women’s basketball head coach Lynsey Warren doesn’t go a day without seeing her former head coach, Sue Ramsey.
"I’m sitting here in my office and there is a picture of her on my bulletin board," Warren said. "We’re just standing there and smiling. It’s great."
Ramsey, who is entering her 20th season as Ashland University’s women’s basketball head coach, has left many a person smiling on campus in the last two decades. On Monday afternoon (Sept. 21), Ramsey announced her retirement from the AU women’s hoops program, effective at the end of the 2014-15 season.
"As I reflect on the last 20 years as AU women’s basketball coach, I am both humbled and grateful to the Lord for blessing me with this journey," said Ramsey. "There have been so many amazing moments, but what I am most thankful for are all the wonderful players and coaches who make up AU women’s basketball. You all have contributed to making coaching my passion, not my job."
Associate head coach Robyn Fralick, who will enter her seventh season assisting Ramsey, will succeed her as head coach beginning in 2015-16.
"It’s been an unbelievable experience to work for Coach Ramsey," Fralick said. "Her impact on the women’s basketball game far extends beyond Ashland University. She is a pioneer in our business and has fought for opportunities for women. She is a true leader and believes in the holistic growth of her student-athletes. I have learned so much from her. She shows up every day with a smile on her face.
"The opportunity to be the next head coach is both very exciting and humbling. My family feels very fortunate and thankful for the opportunity. My goal is to continue to build on the tradition of Ashland women’s basketball."
Said Ramsey, "What a joy it is to know that coach Robyn Fralick, along with assistant coaches Kari Pickens and Emily Hatch, will be carrying on the fundamental principles on which AU women’s basketball is built."
To say that Ramsey has left her mark on Ashland University’s women’s basketball program, AU athletics and the university as a whole would be an understatement:
She is 342-208 (.622) in 19 seasons in Ashland, including the 2011-12 and 2012-13 seasons in which the Eagles won a Division II national title (2013) and finished as the Division II national runner-up (2012). AU’s record over those two seasons was 70-3 (.959).
The Eagles have made four Division II postseason trips, won two Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference championships, won seven outright or co-GLIAC South Division titles and qualified for the GLIAC Tournament 15 times.
She guided the 2011-12 Eagles to the only 19-0 conference season in GLIAC history.
She was the 2011-12 NCAA Division II Coach the Year and GLIAC Coach of the Year.
The Eagles currently are on an 11-season streak of finishing .500 or better. In Ramsey’s 19 seasons, Ashland has been .500 or better in 16 of them.
Three Ramsey-led teams have finished in the top 15 in Division II in team grade-point average.
"From the day she arrived, Sue has never wavered from what she’s believed in and what she’s wanted to do with the program," said Al King, AU Interim Director of Athletics. "She hasn’t cut corners and she’s never compromised. There has always been one standard, and that has never changed. Sue believed our student-athletes could be champions on and off the court. No one’s made that come true like Sue. No one’s prepared her players for the game of basketball and the game of life like Sue.
"It’s astounding the amount of respect Sue has around the country. One of my former students went to work for the Women’s Basketball Coaches Association in Atlanta, and when she walked in and said she was from Ashland, everyone asked if she knew Sue Ramsey. It was like a door was unlocked. Sue’s the gold standard in college athletics."
Ramsey arrived at Ashland on October 11, 1995 – just four days before the start of fall practice. The 1995-96 Eagles went 16-10 and qualified for the GLIAC Tournament in the program’s first season in the league despite seemingly starting behind the eight-ball.
"During the interview process to select the next head women’s basketball coach at Ashland University, it became apparent to me that Sue possessed all of the qualities that one would look for in a successful head women’s basketball coach," said William J. Weidner, former AU Director of Athletics and current Vice President for Advancement and Director of Athletics at the University of the Southwest. "She was well-prepared regarding the basketball coaching expertise that would be required to build a successful women’s basketball program, and I believed that she had the recruiting ability to identify, evaluate and sign excellent student-athletes who would have the potential to succeed on the court and in the classroom.
"She was also someone who had a true commitment to academic integrity and the graduation of the student-athlete as a top priority. In addition, I viewed Sue Ramsey as someone who believed in doing things the right way and a head coach who would be committed to striving for athletic success on the field of play as an NCAA compliant-driven program."
Ramsey is the longest-serving head coach in AU women’s basketball program history, and currently is the longest-serving head coach in the AU athletic department.
"I would say that she is the epitome of what college coaching should be. She cares deeply about her student-athletes, both on and off the court," said Bill Goldring, former AU Director of Athletics. "She has accomplished so much at the highest levels. That was certainly affirmed by going to back-to-back national championship games and winning the latter one."
Her tenure began with an otherwise non-descript 92-47 win at Tiffin on Nov. 21, 1995. It will end no earlier than February 26, 2015, at Lake Erie – and later if she and the Eagles make one of their near-annual GLIAC Tournament trips.
"I want to thank both the AU community and the community of Ashland for all its support," Ramsey said. "Your faith and belief in me and our program is a special gift I will carry with me forever."
Ramsey also will retire as AU’s Senior Women’s Administrator and Assistant Athletic Director.
"Jeremiah 29:11 says, ‘For I know the plans I have for your, declares the Lord. Plans to prosper you not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.’ I hold on to the promise of these words, and am excited for what He has in store for me next."
As for Fralick, who has been associate head coach since the 2011-12 season, there is plenty of excitement for the direction she will take the program beginning in 2015-16.
"Robyn is regarded as a terrific young coach by players, coaches and administrators from around the country," King said. "She’s earned a tremendous amount of respect from her peers, and I’m excited to watch her as she embarks on her head coaching career. We couldn’t be turning the program over to a better person. Robyn has worked hard for this opportunity. No one deserves it more.
"We’re fortunate to have someone like Robyn here on staff. She’s had opportunities to go elsewhere and she’s stayed with us. We’re rewarding that loyalty and, in the process, getting an exceptional coach. Robyn knows what works at Ashland University and she believes in our mission."
"The program will be in great hands," Warren said. "I was able to play for Robyn for a year, and then was able to coach with her when I was a GA. She has such a great knowledge and she is so unique, she is constantly asking questions and that’s a great thing to do as a coach. Sometimes I still think, ‘What would Robyn do?’ She’s been able to have a large impact in my coaching career in such a short about of time, and I am so thankful for that.
"This is something that she is completely ready for. I am very happy for her on a personal level, but I’m not looking forward to coaching against her on a professional level."
WHAT THEY’RE SAYING ABOUT SUE RAMSEY
"We all strive to find the perfect job, the perfect fit, the perfect place to be. I’ve told our student-athletes and students that there is no perfect job. Sue Ramsey has disproved that. Sue Ramsey and Ashland University are as close to a perfect match as you can get. We always had a vision of what we wanted to be at Ashland. Sue took that, expanded it and made it work at the highest level." – Al King, Ashland University Interim Director of Athletics.
"At the time of the hiring of Sue Ramsey as the head women’s basketball coach at Ashland University, I could envision that Sue might remain at Ashland University for the long term, in that she had found an athletic program and institution that she could truly ‘call home.’ Her outstanding 20-year tenure at Ashland University is a tribute to the ‘student-athlete-centered approach’ that both Coach Ramsey and AU embrace as a foundational guiding principle. I am extremely proud of the accomplishments of Sue Ramsey and the continued success of the Ashland University athletic program." – William J. Weidner, former Ashland University Director of Athletics and current Vice President for Advancement and Director of Athletics at the University of the Southwest.
"On a personal note, I thoroughly enjoyed and continue to enjoy my relationship with her and wish nothing but the best for her future. And I know, like myself, she will continue to follow Eagle athletics for the rest of her life!" – Bill Goldring, former Ashland University Director of Athletics.
"As a player, what she does for her team in terms of leadership and motivation is like no other. She is the most caring person I know. She does such an amazing job letting her girls be free with themselves, to be who they are on and off the court. She was so passionate about us as people, not just players. She brings and personifies the passion and the love and the giving that is women’s athletics. It’s really cool to see how far she’s reached for this sport." – Lynsey Warren, former Ashland University women’s basketball player and current Ohio Dominican women’s basketball head coach.
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