Raman Sposato assumes role of assistant men’s basketball coach

Susan Fanelli, Staff Reporter

On Aug. 30, days after Tulane classes reconvened, the Tulane Athletics Department continued making changes to the men’s basketball staff. Among those changes was a big move for Raman Sposato, who Athletics promoted to assistant coach.

Head coach Mike Dunleavy, Sr. initially hired Sposato last April as the director of basketball operations.

Previously, Sposato was known for his skills as a video coordinator and his success in the NBA with teams such as the Portland Trail Blazers and the Los Angeles Clippers. Sposato will join assistant coach Anthony Wilkins and associate head coach Doug Stewart.

“He called me right when he got this job to bring me with him,” Sposato said. “I jumped at the chance to come down and join him.”

Sposato’s career in professional basketball began in 2002, fresh out of the University of Oregon with a bachelor’s degree in journalism and communications. His first job in the NBA began in 2003 as the video coordinator for the Portland Trail Blazers.

Two years later, Sposato headed to the Los Angeles Clippers, where he would remain for the next eight years. He started as video coordinator, but over the years was given larger titles until finally being promoted to player development assistant and game prep coordinator. It was while working for the Clippers that Sposato met head coach Dunleavy.

“I was at the Clippers for eight years. … I worked for coach Dunleavy for five of them,” Sposato said. “He’s a great boss because he doesn’t micromanage and he lets you do your thing. He’s a really hard worker, so it sets the tone for everybody.”

When his stay with the Clippers ended in 2013, Sposato traveled to the Midwest for a year to work with the Detroit Pistons. He returned to California a year later as the assistant coach for the Santa Cruz Warriors, the developmental-league affiliate of the NBA’s Golden State Warriors. While there, Sposato led the team to their first D-league championship in nearly 10 years over the Fort Wayne Mad Ants.

Sposato then spent 2015 as a regional scout for the Denver Nuggets and Houston Rockets. On April 30 of this year, he accepted Tulane and Dunleavy’s offer to join the Green Wave.

After being promoted at the end of August to assistant coach, Sposato is now in charge of player development, game preparation and recruiting as he works alongside other members of the men’s basketball staff this season.

“The assistant coach has a number of different jobs,” Sposato said. “One, it’s helping the team get better on the court. Next is game planning…scouting, and learning all [the opponent’s] plays and all their tendencies. And then thirdly, that’s recruiting younger players.”

After years of working with Dunleavy in numerous coaching positions, Tulane is happy to welcome Sposato to the Green Wave family.

“Raman has been with me a long time beginning when I was with the Clippers,” Dunleavy said. “He has a great basketball mind and is very savvy regarding the technical side of statistical analysis and things of that nature.”

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