MOREHEAD, Ky. - It's nearly 400 miles from Calumet City, Ill., to Morehead, Ky.
Locations that are, in lifestyle, worlds apart.
Ronnye Beamon, a 6-foot-5 senior on the Morehead State men's basketball team, grew up in Calumet City.
Calumet City, about 19 miles south of Chicago's loop, has long been associated with a dark side. It is where Al Capone once conducted bootlegging operations.
"It was just different being from Calumet City," Beamon said. "A lot of crime, a lot of stuff going on. But I made it out."
And he's flourishing in the comparatively pastoral feel that surrounds Morehead State.
He joined Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity last spring. He's on schedule to graduate with a degree in business marketing this spring. And campus life suits him well.
Speaking of "suits," Beamon has a flair for fashion. But more on that later.
"I definitely enjoy it," Beamon said of Morehead. "Very safe compared to where I'm from. I feel like it's very humbling because it's so calm. I like to go down to the lake area and relax and chill. We don't have anything like that at home. … When my mom comes out here she's like 'wow!' There's very, very nice people here."
Beamon has played in all 18 games this season, with starts in the last 10. The Eagles are 7-11 overall (3-2 Ohio Valley Conference).
Beamon, whose hallmark is defense, contributes 5.3 points and 3.1 rebounds a game, while shooting 57.9 percent from the field and 46.7 percent from three-point range.
"Since we've put him in the starting lineup our team morale, our toughness, our defense, our rebounding – everything has gone up," Coach
Preston Spradlin said. "Our leadership has gone up. … He does exactly what I tell him to do. He doesn't try to do more and he certainly isn't going to do less.
"He is just a warrior. He works hard. He does whatever this team needs to win. He doesn't care if it shows up in the stat sheet. He doesn't care if it's pretty, it's ugly or whatever it is. He is going to do the little things that make it a successful team."
The only child of Ronnye Sr. and Helen Beamon, Ronnye Jr. competed in karate from age 5 through 14, earning Purple Belt status.
He also found organized basketball as a second-grader.
His father was his biggest influence. Father picked up son from school and "did everything" with him on a daily basis.
When it came time to pick a high school, Ronnye Jr. seemed to be ticketed for Marian Catholic – the same school that produced former Kentucky standout Tyler Ulis – in nearby Chicago Heights. But the coach from another private school, Bishop Noll, "seemed more interested and said I could have a good opportunity to play there and do good things," Ronnye Jr. said. "My dad always told me 'go where you're wanted, not where you want to go.'"
So Bishop Noll it was – about a 15-minute drive from Calumet City to Hammond, Ind. (Calumet City originally was called West Hammond.)
In September of his junior year in high school, Ronnye's father became ill. Complications eventually led to heart failure, and Ronnye Sr. died five months later, on Feb. 23, 2011.
Ronnye Jr. coped by playing. He declined an offer to skip the next game and, two nights after his father's death, helped his team complete an undefeated regular season (21-0) with a 68-57 victory over archrival Andrean.
The Warriors would go on to Indiana's Class 2A State Championship game, falling 43-42 to Park Tudor and finishing with a 27-1 record.
In addition to remaining devoted to his mother, Ronnye never forgets his father.
"I was just always really close to my dad and he's always been a big influence on everything I do, including now," Beamon said. "Every game, I make sure I talk to him in prayer and stuff, and just remember him. Remember all the stuff that he gave me and all he did. The tools he taught me playing ball."
As a Bishop Noll senior, Beamon averaged 14.4 points, 5.2 rebounds and 2.1 steals. He also was an honor student with a 3.41 grade-point average.
When it came time to pick a college, he went with Youngstown State of the Horizon League.
"I wanted to go there because of the conference and the setup – how we played Valpo; Butler was in the conference at the time; Loyola," Beamon said. "Those are all Chicago-area teams. But also, when my dad passed away, I wanted to get away from home and just experience life."
Beamon redshirted his first year, then played in 13 games during the 2013-14 season. Issues arose. Beamon left the program.
"It was kind of a broken house, so a lot of us parted at the same time," he said. "Five of us left when I left. Just a lot of stuff going on. A lot of coaches leaving, a lot of stuff happening."
Beamon decided to reopen the recruiting process by switching to Kaskaskia (Junior) College in Illinois. He averaged 10.5 points and 3.3 rebounds, earning an offer from former Morehead Coach Sean Woods.
Upon visiting Morehead, Beamon felt an immediate bond with Woods, who grew up in northwest Indiana. They knew many of the same people. Woods had cousins attending Bishop Noll. And Beamon liked the style of play that Woods favored.
So, last season, Beamon appeared in all 37 games for the Eagles, with one start. His highlight was hitting a three-pointer – his only points of the game – with 12 seconds left to lift MSU to a 66-61 win over Tennessee State.
With Woods' resignation early this season, Beamon and his teammates have switched gears to Spradlin's style.
"The adjustment's been fine," Beamon said. "I enjoy Preston and I feel like I learn a lot from him as well. And I think it's been a good situation as well. Both are good coaches, both are good guys. I feel like it's a good situation for Preston as well. I feel like we're going to be good with him, too."
Beamon joined the starting lineup in the midst of an eight-game losing streak.
Since the slide ended, the Eagles have won five of eight games.
Beamon says that, during the losing streak, the toughest part was staying positive. Several of the losses were close games, though, including an overtime game in Beamon's first start.
"We just tried to take that as a positive," he said. "'OK, we are close. So what do we need to fix in order to get right and get an actual win rather than getting close to wins?' I think that was the biggest thing, just trying to figure out the little things we need to do to fix in order to get the wins."
Through repetition in practice, the Eagles adjusted to the Spradlin's tweaks. Assignments became second nature. Players built trust in one another. Confidence grew.
Now, Beamon says MSU's goal is right where it was during the preseason. The Eagles want to win the OVC Tournament and earn an NCAA tourney berth.
"I know this is my last year, and I haven't been able to make it to the tourney," he said. "And that's been the dream of my life, is to be able to make it to the tournament. So we speak on it every day, but we try to build on it day by day. … Every day we come into practice like 'we're going to conquer this one day at a time.' Whether it's just a practice day, that's a championship day. We call it 'championship days' because we want to be able to just build and play every day like we're in the tournament already. So every practice, everything we do, we need to do it on a championship level."
Beyond college, Beamon wants to play professional ball.
Beyond basketball, though, is where his love of suits come into play.
"I want to be a fashion designer working in the business marketing world in general," Beamon said. "Working for a Fortune 500 company. "I really like suits and menswear. But I could also see myself getting into sportswear, just from understanding sports and understanding how you like stuff to fit and feel. I feel like I can probably be beneficial for a company like Nike or Under Armour or anything like that and helping them understand the design – fashionable, but form-fitting clothing that feel good for athletes. I feel like I could probably have a niche for either/or, but I really like suits a lot."
Beamon says he's always liked to dress well. He takes pride in making a good first impression.
He even has a fashion blog, on an Instagram page called Total Package Looks. (Link to his page here:
http://www.imgrum.net/user/total_package_looks/3909126039.)
In addition to fashion, basketball and academics, Beamon and fellow senior
Xavier Moon represent the MSU basketball team on the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee.
"He's just a good person," Spradlin said. "And that's a big part of being a student-athlete at Morehead State. More specifically, being a basketball player at Morehead State.
"Because you're going to be on the front porch of our university. You're the person that people want to get to know. We can't hide you, so you've got to be a good guy. You've got to like academics. You've got to like working hard. You've got to like talking to people and being out in the community. He embraces all of that, and I'm proud of him for it."
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