Only extreme diehard Celtics fans remember Ronnie Grandison, but that was typical. It was never easy for Ronnie Grandison. Never. He started his college career at Cal-Irvine but after two lackluster seasons, he decided to transfer to Tulane. Then once he got to Tulane, a point-shaving scandal took place and Grandison was looking for yet a new college. This time he went to the University of New Orleans.
After graduating Grandison was a 5th round pick by the Nuggets in the 1987 draft (why did they used to have so many rounds is beyond comprehension for me). He didn't make the Nuggets and was the final cut.
"I can still see Doug Moe coming in every day wearing his blue jeans and running shoes with no socks," said Grandison. "He was a funny guy, but make one mistake and he was all on top of you no matter who you were. I was on my own there. They didn't tell you much in Denver. "After playing for Rochester in the CBA, Ronnie eventually got his call from the Celtics. Jimmy Rodgers brought up his name and scout Rick Weitzman followed through with some research.
"I saw him play about two years ago and I liked his work on the boards and in the post," said Weitzman. "Back then, there was some question about his shooting ability and his defense, but from what I've seen in camp, he's improved tremendously in both areas.What Ronnie did was bust his ass. He could never get by solely on physical gifts, so he hustled a lot, hit the floor for loose balls and really tried to rebound the ball. He appeared in 72 games during the 88-89 season with the Celtics, his only one.
After the 1989 season with Boston, Grandison took a most unusual NBA circuit. He next appeared in the league 3 years later with the Hornets where he only played 3 games. Then he was out of the league 3 more years until the 1995 season where he played 2 games for the Knicks. The next season he was back for 18 games with Miami, 4 for the Hawks, and 6 more with NY. So his total number of NBA games played was 105 and 72 of them came for the Celtics.
He was far from dazzling in his time with Boston. He averaged about 7 mpg and 2.5 ppg (in other words he was a lot more efficient than Jarred Jeffries).
So what the hell happened to Ronnie Grandison? Back in 2000 he was part of the Living Food Films, a non-profit organization geared towards "creating professional, educational, documentary-style videos regarding the superior health benefits derived from Vegetarian and Raw, Living Food consumption." I'm not sure if there's actual video footage of Ronnie Grandison participating in this, but there's a fantastic still photo I start off the article with.
Interestingly enough as of 2002 he was actually the head coach for the Courts of Praise Christian Center in Cincinnati. The part that was interesting was it was a team made up of high school kids who were home-schooled. Check out this article on it if you can. The entire concept of kids being home-schooled really is puzzling to me. I guess Ronnie had no problem with it.
Grandison has been involved with numerous activities including coaching The West Firebirds girl's Freshman team as well as recently coaching at Cincinnati Hills Christian Academy. He also heads up the Ronnie Grandison Basketball Academy, not to be confused with the Zan Tabak Skills Camp. Ronnie seems to literally do it all, and based on the comments left on this article, is an absolutely wonderful human being who seems to take more joy in seeing others prosper and succeed as a result of his teaching. Way to go Ronnie!!For a complete roster of this feature: What the Hell Happened to? Index
tb727
1/25/2010 12:42:00 AM
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Ronnie Grandison was awesome. He could of totally spotted Pierce some minutes on this year's squad. Very informative TB, but we'll have to wait to see what Bohemian says, especially since your missing two words that rhyme with Smotis Wordbong
LOL!!! Grandison! I hadn't thought about him in a loooong time :)) Really nice article, TB. You also mention the mythical Ramon Rivas :D He played in Spain after that, and I always wondered how did he manage to play for the C's :P
JR:
I still suggest and desperately need more coverage on you know who asap! Lol! :)))
The "mythical" Ramon Rivas? Lmao!
He epitomized "corpse." That guy had no business being in the NBA. I think it was a crossroads where the global expansion was being forced and it was hip to try and get someone from Puerto Rico.
How about Ruben Wolkowyski? ;)
obv if he was a laker he'd be hanging out on skid row strung out on crack..glad to see he's doing g'things
Yep Bohemian he's crossed my mind as well. The best thing about this is there's like a never-ending list of guys to choose from.
Ronnie also coaches all ages, my 3 year old is in one of his weekly camps & he does a great job keeping their attention. He's hilarious & seems very happy working as a coach/mentor.
Ronnie runs a great basketball academy in the northern suburbs of Cincinnati, Ohio. He is a great teacher of young players and has been a great member of the community.
Check out rgbasketball.com
ronnie coaches all ages and all different teams in the suburbs of cincinnati, ohio. he is a great coach.
I play for Ronnie Grandison on the 5th grade team were called RGB Elite were in Ohio at a place called Kids First
Good luck to RGB Elite. Ronnie Grandison sounds like a great guy.
he is
Ronnie is also the girls varsity coach at Cincinnati Hills Christian Academy. Check it out at chca-oh.org :)
I think it's safe to say Ronnie Grandison does it all. Maybe he'll come write for the site so we can get rid of tb.
grandison is doing extremely well for himself now. he had his own 3 court gym built, owning it, runs leagues/tournaments, coaches numerous teams, training, etc.
I saw him coaching at Lakota West womans team last night, head Frosh coach and assistant on JV and Varsity.
His daughter is a talented player on the varsity squad:
http://lakotawebdesign.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=122&Itemid=321
he played in the philippines back in 1995. he lead his team to a championship, and he won the best import award for himself
He is a Jerk
I doubt it Anonymous. Ronnie seems like a class-act, through and through.
coach ronnie is ausome he has been coaching me for 2 years now I am in the 8th grade and he's has made me much better and pushes me until u feel like puking,he even told me to work hard and someday u might be able to also play in front of thousands of fans! he is the best motivater!
This Spring Ronnie was named head girls' basketball coach at Cincinnati Hills Christian Academy (2013).
His Ronnie Grandison Basketball Academy is housed within the Kids First sports complex.
Ronnie is a great man who is committed to the development of our youth, not only as athletes, but more importantly as quality individuals who will succeed throughout their lifetime.
www.rgbasketball.com