Gene Ransom

Horace Eugene Ransom II (January 21, 1957 – February 4, 2022), was a prominent basketball player for the California Golden Bears from 1975 to 1978. Ransom moved as a young boy from Fresno, California, to Berkeley, where he became a "three-sport legend" at Berkeley High School, excelling in baseball, football, and basketball.

Ransom emulated the basketball style of Berkeley High School basketball stars Phil Chenier, Doug Kagawa, and Carl Shelton. Ransom "shadowed Chenier... trying to pick up on his game."

Ransom was inducted into the California Athletics Hall of Fame in 2001.

Later life

After his time as a player, Ransom later served as a basketball coach at Berkeley High School, leading the freshman boys team to a 27–0 record, and served as a youth mentor in other ways. He worked with the nonprofit Athletes United for Peace, which provided healthy alternatives for youth caught up in street violence. As described in the Berkeley Daily Planet in 2002,

Ransom coached the freshman team at Berkeley High during the 2000-01 season, but decided to step away after his proposals for study programs and community service for the players fell on deaf ears. With the budget getting tighter every year at BHS, the support system for younger players can be lacking. In fact, with the newest set of budget cuts, the freshman team has been eliminated for the upcoming school year. So when Davis asked Ransom to help organize a team for him and his friends, Ransom jumped at the chance. While taking classes at the New College of California in San Francisco, he had written a proposal for a comprehensive program for high school athletes, complete with study sessions and community service as equal components with practice and games. Dynasty Basketball is the beginning stages of that vision.

A 25-year-old man was arrested the next day, and was later charged with murder.