Athlete Spotlight

Name: Ramel Allen
Hometown: Bronx, New York
Age: 25
Sport: Men’s Basketball
Class: Senior
Major: Social Science (Sociology)Being 6’10 and on the UB basketball team, Ramel is used to being the object of many misconceptions. In fact, there’s a lot of things about him that you probably would never know, unless you knew him personally, or read this article. An avid reader, Ramel likes keeping up on current events by reading the newspaper and enjoys Stephen King novels, autobiographies and science fiction. He is also a big “techie” freak; he loves his ‘iPod’ and is excited about the new ‘Blackberry’ coming out. Ramel tends to be a homebody, prefers staying indoors playing video games and although shy at first, likes to talk.
The biggest influence on his life has been his mother, who raised Ramel as a single parent. He credits his mother with teaching him “90% of what I know” and instilling in him a sense of core values.
Ramel started playing basketball when he was 16, when one of his friends asked him to play in a championship tournament. Although he was 6’6, he “couldn’t play basketball to save my life” and was nervous, but agreed to it in the end. The team went on to win and this started his basketball career. He has played for Iowa Western Community College, Monroe College, Iona University and now the University of Bridgeport. Ramel is appreciative of the diversity within the University. On his floor in Warner alone, there is a multiplicity of races and nations that is hard to find in other schools. He feels students should take more advantage of the situation and get to know more different kinds of people.
Ramel feels that the UB Men’s Basketball team is “really good” in terms of “individual talent,” and hopes that by “coming together as a unit for a common goal, we should be able to do big things together”.