Bill Ramsey is leaving the Blue Ridge school after a long, extremely successful tenure as the boys basketball coach and as the school’s athletic director since Carl Frye’s retirement.
“It is difficult to leave Blue Ridge, and I will always love this school,” Ramsey said in a press release issued by Blue Ridge. “This is the right time in my career to take on new teaching and coaching challenges presented at Christchurch, a boarding school which, like Blue Ridge, places a great deal of emphasis on student-athletes who buy into the entire experience.”
Ramsey is headed to the Christchurch School where he’ll serve as the head basketball coach and teach as a member of the history department.
The Barons won the VISAA Division I state championship earlier this year.
“I feel like the Blue Ridge program is in great shape,” Ramsey added in the release. “Obviously I’m very proud of our state championship this year, and I am confident that the coaches and players are well prepared to carry on the Baron tradition.”
The school has already announced replacements for Ramsey in both roles, with associate head coach Cade Lemcke moving into the head basketball role while Bryan Puckett, currently the assistant athletic director, will take over as the school’s athletic director. Lemcke joined the program in 2014 and the UVa graduate and former Longwood assistant was a critical part of the team’s title run. Puckett, A John Carroll grad who also has a master’s in teaching from James Madison has been at Blue Ridge for the last five years in a variety of roles on staff and as a coach in various sports.
Ramsey has been a part of the fabric of Blue Ridge for a long time joining the faculty in 1990 after graduating from the school in 1983. The release listed a dizzying array of jobs and roles he’s filled at the school, ranging from history teacher to dorm parent to summer school director to dean of students and athletic director.
“We look forward to seeing Bill often and in various roles — as an alumnus, as a distinguished former faculty member and across the gym when our teams compete,” said Blue Ridge school headmaster Trip Darrin. “Blue Ridge School will always be grateful to Bill Ramsey.”
