They’ve always had talent, but what were the Cavaliers like before they became rich and gigantic and famous?
Cavaliers guard Ramon Sessions grew up in Myrtle Beach, S.C. and has played in the chilly weather (Nevada, Milwaukee, Minnesota and Cleveland) ever since.
In today’s Growing Up, the soft-spoken combo guard talks about competing against a sibling, his favorite coach growing up and his first dunk …
I started playing basketball … when I was four years old. I can remember that exact time.
When I was little … I played football and baseball. But that’s when I was little, little. When I was 13 or 14, I knew basketball was something that I wanted to do.
I have an older … sister. She played basketball in high school.
We used to compete … and she used to beat me until I was probably about 13 or 14. (Maybe 15.) We used to have competitive games all the time. She played for Myrtle Beach High, too.
I had a pretty successful career … during my four years at Myrtle Beach HS. I started varsity from my ninth grade year. We went 30-1 my sophomore year, were 23rd in the nation and won the state championship.
In high school … I scored 57 in one game and 54 in another. I had a quadruple-double one game. I think I finished averaging around 28, 8 and 7 through my four years.
In my freshman year … I was 5-7. My sophomore year, I grew to 6-1. So I really had that one growth spurt where I shot up about five inches or so. But I still had the handle.
The good thing about … getting my growth spurt late is that I learned to play point guard when I was little. And at 6-1, I was still able to play point. I think I grew two more inches and went to Nevada at 6-3.
A lot of colleges … wanted me to go to prep school, but Nevada had a scholarship available, I went out there on a visit and they had a guy from Columbia, S.C. that I knew of, so that kind of helped the transition out.
I signed with Nevada … on August 1st and went out there on August 18th, so it was last minute.
A South Carolina kid going out to … Nevada was a big transition. I was way from home. It was tough at first, but it worked out OK in the end.
There’s no question that my best coach … was Buddy Rogers – my high school coach. I wear wrist bands with “Buddy” on them every day to remember him.
He coached me … eighth grade year – JV – and when I got to high school he got the varsity job. So he was with me eighth grade through my senior year. He was like a father figure to me.
Coach passed away … during my sophomore year in college. It was tough. It came to the point where I didn’t know if I could play basketball anymore. He was always there for me.
I always dreamed of … being in the NBA, but I didn’t see it being realistic until I got into high school and playing AAU and started running into some of the competition.
I played a lot against … Daniel Gibson coming up. I met D-Gibb probably my 10th or 11th grade year. I met him at summer camps, and he was always the top-rated guy. So I’d always go at him in the summertime.
D-Gibb was … real good back then, coming out of Texas. It was some good competition.
My first dunk … I think was in my sophomore year of high school. It was a dunk in a game and guys looked at me kind of crazy.
In practice, I remember … never really dunking, but just in that moment of the game, momentum just took me up in the air. It was a great feeling. I was like, “Wow!”
It wasn’t a 360 or anything … but it was a one-handed dunk. And it felt good to get up there and hang on the rim for a second.