Former I–C–C basketball and softball coach Lorene Ramsey is a living legend.
After all, the gym where she used to work has her name on it.
We recently found her back in the gym...and going back to her roots.

Before she was a legend, Lorene Ramsey coached junior high basketball.
She was doing that again when we caught up with her at Blessed Sacrament school in Morton.
Ramsey helping out her former softball player Tonya Gilles Koch, working with 7th and 8th grade girls.

"She’s the head coach, but she’s not really a basketball person," Ramsey said. "She’s a softball person so she asked me to come out and get them started. My first job was at Coolidge junior high in Granite City, Illinois so I do understand the age limit and I do have, or have had, junior high girls at my camp so it wasn’t a huge adjustment."

Our friend Cara Luechtefeld and the Lady Tars have only heard about Ramsey's past...but they know that listening is a good idea.

"She was kind of intimidating at first, because she’s a legend I guess," Luchtefeld said.

"She’s awesome. She really knows what she’s doing and she loves being with us," said Blessed Sacrament player Nicole Koch. " She works us hard but I think there’ll be a good income (sic)."

"When we’re doing a drill and working on a certain aspect, she can see three or four things where I’ll only see one," said coach Greg Massey. "She’s ten times the coach we are and has more patience than we have. I’m not sure who’s learning more, the kids or the coaches."

For Ramsey, it's a chance to help out an old friend, and help teach the game she loves to a new generation of girls.
Lorene Ramsey will be remembered as a pioneer in women's sports...the former softball pitcher and five–time national champion coach could charge big fees for this kind of work...but she donated her time to Blessed Sacrament.

"They have the same enthusiasm at this level," Ramsey said. "They have good foot speed, but they need to work on their shooting quite a bit. They have just as much fun as the college girls do, and that gives you a good feeling when they have a good feeling."