Zakai Zeigler is willing to hire a lawyer to play another college basketball season. Even if he wins his lawsuit, he won’t be the oldest player in college basketball. You’ll find that man in Green Bay. Unlike Zeigler and all of the other geriatric journeymen, this is actually a great story.
Doug Gottlieb wanted Green Bay to get older ahead of his second season as the head coach of the Phoenix. He’s accomplishing that in one full swoop by signing Ramel Bethea.
Bethea will turn 29 before Green Bay opens the season at Kansas. He is two years older than Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, who will likely win the NBA MVP Award tonight. The oldest player in college basketball last year was 26-year-old Trevin Knell, whose college career was delayed by his Mormon mission. Bethea’s college career was delayed by a military career and a late growth spurt.
Bethea Learned How to Hoop in the Navy
Bethea was only 6-foot-4 when he graduated from high school in 2014, the same year Karl-Anthony Towns moved to Lexington to begin his college basketball career. Bethea got a job at Dunkin’ Donuts, then worked at a grocery store for two years, where a recruiter for the Marines spotted him. He eventually joined the Navy. That’s where he began playing basketball for the first time.
According to the Green Bay Press Gazette, while working on a ship in Virginia, he met a former DI basketball player who asked him to come play pick-up. Bethea hadn’t played basketball since he was a child in rec leagues. He wasn’t very good, but he was tall, almost 6-8. That height got him on the Navy basketball team for the Armed Forces Basketball Championships. He didn’t play much right away, but by his second season he was one of the best hoopers in the Armed Forces, earning a spot on an All-Star team that competed against other countries in Belgium.
His contract with the Navy expired in 2024. Bethea was prepared to start looking for a civilian job when MiraCosta Community College coaches asked him to join their program. He jumped at the opportunity to get a college degree.
“I thought I was good, but when I got to JUCO, it was a reality check,” Bethea told the Green Bay Press Gazette. “I just started hooping and my experience is very low, to the point that my athleticism and height is carrying me most of the way.”
It was a rough start in practice, but once the games began, he quickly found his footing. In his debut, he had 15 points, five rebounds, and six blocked shots. By the season’s end, Bethea averaged 12.7 points and 9.7 rebounds while shooting 50.5% from the floor.
Doug Gottlieb’s assistants took note and aggressively recruited Bethea. Their persistence paid off, and he chose Green Bay over two dozen other DI programs. Even though Bethea will be the oldest player in college basketball, he’s still new to the game. His ceiling is high and he’s motivated to make the most of this opportunity. “I don’t want to go back to turning wrenches.”
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