UWGB men’s basketball coach Doug Gottlieb adds 28-year-old Ramel Bethea | Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

GREEN BAY – University of Wisconsin-Green Bay men’s basketball coach Doug Gottlieb had a few goals when constructing his team this spring.

One of them was to get older after having nine freshmen on the roster in his first season, all while trying to compete in an NCAA Division I world in which the average age of starters playing in the Sweet 16 was 21.6 years.

College players don’t get much older than Gottlieb’s latest recruit. Almost none have his backstory, either.

Ramel Bethea, a 6-foot-9 forward-center, will be 29 by the time UWGB opens the 2025-26 season at Kansas in November.

That isn’t a typo. He turns 29 in July. Almost as old as Giannis Antetokounmpo and Nikola Jokic and more than a decade older than NBA prospect Cooper Flagg.

Bethea spent his freshman season in 2024-25 at MiraCosta College, a junior college in San Diego, after spending five years in the military.

BYU guard Trevin Knell was the oldest player in DI this season at 26, his career delayed a few years in part because of his Mormon mission.

Bethea’s story started to make the rounds during the season, the mystery man with a 7-4 wingspan who seemingly came out of nowhere to attract the attention of college recruiters.

He didn’t play basketball growing up, unless you count those times at the Boys & Girls Club when he was 10. He was a scrawny, lanky kid his entire childhood.

Bethea was 5-9 when he arrived at Friendly High School in Fort Washington, Maryland. He was close to 6-4 by the time he was a senior, but still so scrawny he weighed 130 pounds on graduation day in 2014.

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Ramel Bethea picks Green Bay

All the phone calls — including from agents — started to get overwhelming. At least 25 DI schools expressed interest.

Bethea started to tell people he just wanted to finish the season and concentrate on school until spring, which might have hurt his recruitment but was what he felt was best.

He had a solid rookie year, averaging 12.7 points, 9.7 rebounds and shooting 50.5%.

“When the transfer portal opened up, a lot of schools that reached out to me might have picked from the transfer portal and forgot about me,” Bethea said. “Green Bay was one of those schools that pretty much didn’t forget about me. I went on a visit with Eastern Kentucky, but it was my first visit, and I didn’t want to make a decision then. Once I made a visit with them, a lot of schools that kind of forgot about me saw the picture and was like, ‘Oh, snap, that guy again.’

“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. One season and a good recruiting class, that’s all it takes to turn a program around.”

UWGB wasn’t certain it could land Bethea when it started recruiting him. He was out of its price range with the potential to double what the school could offer. Big men almost always cost more in the portal.

Gottlieb didn’t give up. He told Bethea he could come here and earn a lot of playing time, opening the door for more lucrative opportunities in a year or two.

He did the same for former standout Anthony Roy this season, who despite being limited to just 11 games with an ankle injury, signed with Oklahoma State for a lot more money in April.

Still, it wasn’t a sure thing Bethea would commit when he visited Green Bay last week with his girlfriend.

“I came out there with the intentions that I was going to hate it,” Bethea said. “California spoiled me. So, my whole thing was that if a school wants me, they have to give me a comfortable reason to leave California. No one wants to leave California, because it’s hard to get back once you leave.

“When I went out there — I hated Chicago when I was in boot camp — there is no way I’m going to like Green Bay.”

Then he arrived on campus. Things changed enough for him to reconsider.

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Source: UWGB men’s basketball coach Doug Gottlieb adds 28-year-old Ramel Bethea | Milwaukee Journal Sentinel