In the closing seconds of a home game against Dallas Baptist University during his sophomore season, GAVINO RAMOS veered toward a screen from BLAKE NIELSEN, rejected it, and hit a deep step-back 3-pointer to secure a 66-63 victory for St. Edward's. 
 
Flanking Ramos on the court were UCHE DIBIAMAKA, the Hilltoppers' all-conference leading scorer; JEFF GARY, a Division I transfer known for his scoring bursts; SEAN ELKINTON, a standout freshman center in an All-LSC First Team season; and Nielsen, who was experiencing his first all-conference season. 
 
Yet, St. Edward's Head Men's Basketball Coach, Andre Cook, put the ball in the hands of a sophomore point guard who'd only recently cemented himself as the team's starter. 
 
"I wanted the play to concentrate on Gavino and Blake. They're both intelligent guys, so I expected they'd figure things out," Cook explains. "Gavino is a winner. He was the point guard for Antonian in high school and won two state championships. He's a fantastic kid from a wonderful family with a solid academic background from a Catholic high school, so he checked about eight boxes for recruiting him. When I first met him, I knew he was someone we had to pursue seriously."
 
During the timeout, Cook drew a play with three different actions. With only eight seconds remaining, Ramos and Nielsen intuitively knew there wouldn't be enough time for more than one, so they made a silent audible with the high screen, and Ramos did what he'd been doing for most of his life.
 
"I owe a lot to my AAU coach, Moe Harrison. He prepared me for those moments," Ramos reflects on his ability in clutch situations. "I played for him for 10 to 12 years, and he always told me it was my time to shine in every big moment. He'd design a play but also encourage me to make something happen if it wasn't there."
 
Watching Ramos sink a buzzer-beating 3-pointer on the live stream from halfway across the country was his older sister, Sophia Ramos. She was the star guard for NCAA Division I San Diego State, and Gavino can't tell his own basketball story without the friendly, competitive sibling rivalry that transformed them into each other's greatest cheerleaders. 
 
"It's funny because we both hit game-winners around the same time. I made my first game-winner against Portland, and then he hit one against DBU. We teased each other, saying, 'You're just trying to be like me,'" Sophia recalls. "My big question for him was, 'What was going through your mind? Why take a deep three instead of a closer one?' I joked that he was just trying to be cooler than mine." 
 
Gavino's basketball origins start with his father, GAVINO RAMOS Sr., carrying his toddler son on the court while coaching Sophia's CYO basketball team during practice in San Antonio. 
 
"Gavino has been around basketball his entire life," Ramos Sr. says. "One of the funniest stories my wife and I tell is when I was coaching Sophia's CYO team, and G would run out on the court in the middle of the game." 
 
Gavino and Sophia fondly remember Coach Harrison with the Next Level Raiders AAU team teasingly referring to Gavino as Reggie Miller, after the NBA Hall of Famer whose older sister, Cheryl Miller, was the much more accomplished of the two.
 
"Sophia and I used to work out with Coach Moe, and when she was in college, if I'd have a good game, she'd have a great game. If I hit a milestone, she'd hit a milestone," Ramos says. "It was a fun competition. It's funny because Coach Moe still calls me Reggie Miller to this day."
 
Although Gavino and Sophia were separated by three years and attended different high schools, they were never far from each other's thoughts. Sophia attended Incarnate Word High School, an all-girls school, while Gavino attended rival Antonian. 
 
When Sophia's team played Antonian, Gavino proudly wore an Incarnate Word shirt and sat in their fan section. They wore something in support when they played simultaneously and couldn't attend each other's game. 
 
Sophia was at San Diego State's practice during Gavino's first state championship basketball game. She watched the game on her phone through FaceTime with their dad while he cheered from the stands. When her practice started, an assistant coach updated Sophia via texts from Ramos Sr.
 
During Sophia's final year of college, Gavino surprised her by joining their parents on a visit to San Diego.
 
"That was one of my favorite memories. When I went to the hotel to see my parents, I opened the door, and my brother was there. It's a small thing, but that's our relationship. We enjoy hanging out with each other," Sophia says. "If you notice, before every game, he squats down and takes a second for himself, which is funny because I used to do that before every game in college." 
 
"It's been a great evolution from how we were as kids, fighting like any brother and sister, to seeing him take bits and pieces from me," Sophia adds. "I don't think you see much in a brother-sister relationship. Usually, you see it more between two brothers or two sisters." 
 
Gavino has always had a knack for recognizing the best in the support system surrounding him, from his grandparents and parents to his uncles, aunts, and family friends and incorporating those influences into who he is. This includes the three prominent basketball coaches in his life: Harrison, Antonian high school legend Rudy Bernal, and Cook. 
 
"Something I pride myself on is loyalty. I played for one AAU coach and still talk to Coach Harrison daily. I played for one high school coach, and he's at the games when we play in San Antonio," Gavino says. "And I've played for one college coach, and I'll continue talking to Coach Cook long after I'm done here." 
 
Ramos also credits Harrison for instilling loyalty, believing in Gavino at an early age, and seeing him through his entire AAU career. He attributes his work ethic and effort to Coach Bernal and his passion and basketball IQ to Coach Cook. 
 
"I think it's a true sign of who Gavinos is in a time when people change AAU teams every other weekend and colleges every year that G never wavers," Ramos Sr. says. "We had different AAU coaches and high school coaches call about him, but G started with them, and he was going to stay with them. When he makes a decision, he sticks to it and will make it work."
 
That demeanor helped Ramos through a challenging first year at St. Edward's, going from the star of any team he'd played on his entire life to playing sporadically in the toughest NCAA Division II conference at the most critical position overseeing the league's most complex offensive system. 
 
"He had freshman struggles like any other freshman does. There's so much to learn about being a point guard in our system and adjusting to the level of competition," Cook says. "So, he backed up DANIEL VENZANT, did a lot of learning, earned a few minutes, then battled it out for the starting spot next year. He wasn't just handed it; he earned it and started the last 89 games." 
 
The path wasn't easy. College point guards-turned-head coaches are notoriously demanding of the point guards they coach, and Cook is an outlier in the affirmative more than the exception. 
 
Ramos's college basketball career was forged in the fire of Cook's wrath; no flame burns brighter, no steel is more tempered. 
 
"He told me when I arrived on campus four years ago that he's more demanding of the point guard because I have to be the coach out there," Ramos says. "The first time he blew up on me, I was still caught off guard, but I had good seniors to talk me through it."
 
Cook believes the point guard to be the extension of the head coach on the floor, expanding his presence beyond the small coaching box he's confined to. 
 
"I love being around Gavino and his personality. We have great laughs. Given our style of play, the point guard position is crucial to me, and G fits it perfectly," Cook explains. "Many times, G got yelled at for a team mistake because he and I have a great relationship where I know he can take it and move on. That's a reflection of his parents and his sister – a successful basketball player who is still coaching – so it runs in the family." 
 
Cook texted Ramos to notify him that he had been given the keys to the offense during the winter break of G's sophomore season. 
 
"My sophomore year didn't start well, but I had a great support system with my family and Blake to talk me through it. I got an opportunity just before Thanksgiving and ran with it," Ramos recalls. "Then, after Christmas break, I got a text from Coach Cook asking, 'Can you lead this team? It's your team now.' That's when I knew I was coming into my own." 
 
During the second half of conference play in Ramos's sophomore season, St. Edward's reoriented itself around the young trio of Elkinton, Nielsen, and Ramos. 
 
Ramos built on that momentum over the summer, hitting the weight room and ceaselessly working on his game. By the following season, he was one of the conference's most improved players, earning team co-captain alongside Nielsen and all-conference honors. 
 
"I remember sitting in the stands when he scored 27 points against Oklahoma Christian. I could hear their fans saying, 'Oh, he's too slow. He can't shoot, he can't do this or that,'" Ramos Sr. says. "But then you look up, and he has 26, 27 points. In my humble opinion, no moment has been too big." 
 
This year, Gavino's father's opinion was thoroughly tested when the team lost Nielsen to a season-ending knee injury. 
 
"This wasn't how his senior season was supposed to go. Blake's injury was obviously most devastating for Blake, but it was almost as difficult for Gavino," Cook says. "They came in together, are roommates, and have been best friends."
 
"It was tough. Blake makes the game so much easier for everyone, so I had to adjust my game without him," Ramos says. "Knowing how much more was on my shoulders was a lot, but like any competitive basketball player, you want to rise to that challenge."
 
St. Edward's remained competitive but suffered unfortunate losses that turned on a handful of plays. 
 
"There wasn't much time to process losing Blake because we had so many games. At one point, we even lost on a crazy buzzer-beater," Cook says. "It's because of Gavino's calm and steadiness that we've figured things out and righted the ship. You need those leaders who will hang in there and continue to trust what we're doing when things get tough instead of pointing fingers. For us, that all starts with G." 
 
Ramos has remained a steady presence in the lineup, leading the team with 13.8 points and 4.5 assists per game. In early January, he surpassed 1,000 career points at the Hilltop, with his entire family in attendance. 
 
"I couldn't make it to the previous game because I was coaching [at UTSA], and I admit I was selfishly a little happy when he didn't get it then because I wanted to be there when he did it," Sophia says. "I remember both my parents being really excited. My dad had his phone out and recorded everything. And in typical G fashion, he did it with a 3-pointer. It brought a smile to my face." 
 
St. Edward's has spent the final few weeks of the regular season fighting for its postseason life, and Ramos has answered the call, scoring 22, 18, 19, 11, and 18 points down the stretch. 
 
After scoring 11 points in a disappointing road loss to Eastern New Mexico, Ramos bounced back to lead the Hilltoppers with 18 points on 5-for-8 shooting and 7-for-7 shooting from the 3-point line to give St. Edward's its first-ever road win against West Texas A&M, leaping the Buffaloes in the standings in the fight for the final playoff seed. 
 
"His performance at West Texas A&M actually started after Thursday's loss to an athletic Eastern New Mexico team on the bus ride from Portales, New Mexico, to Canyon, Texas," Cook exclaims. "Someone outside the coaching staff had to get those guys to believe we could go into West Texas and do something we'd never done before. That was Gavino. It all starts with him. He had a huge performance, and we still have to win one more to get in, but that was undoubtedly one of our best performances of the year."
 
Wednesday night's Battle of the Saints game will be Ramos's final game as a player at the Hilltop. He will play in front of the family he was born into and the one he formed at St. Edward's. 
 
"Being close to home is something I underestimated when I came here. I didn't think it would be a big deal to me, but to have my family only an hour away and be here for all the biggest moments has meant a lot to me," Ramos says. "Then, the professors and other athletes have supported me along the way. These relationships and the people I'm playing with and for are what I will get out of basketball more than any accolades or statistics." 
 
As for what comes next and the possibility of coaching after college, like his older sister? 
 
"I've been following Sophia's footsteps damn near every step of the way," Ramos jokes. "So, I might as well keep it going."