By Marc Raimondi
Kenny Anderson was the top high school prospect in the country. He helped lead Georgia Tech to the Final Four and was an All-Star in the NBA with the New Jersey Nets. But to the Queens native, none of those things can compare to getting his college degree.
Earlier this year, Anderson completed online courses at St. Thomas University to earn a bachelor’s in organizational leadership.
“That topped it all, because it’s the hardest thing I did,” the New York City hoops legend said. “Basketball and all that other stuff is easy. That’s just going to the gym and putting in the work. I think focusing on education and going back to school after 20 years takes a lot of commitment, discipline and concentration. It’s very difficult.”
On Sunday, Anderson was at Hoops in the Sun at Orchard Beach in the Bronx to be a part of the Bash at the Beach festivities, which featured a 16-and-under all-star game and three-point shooting contest, a clinic run by the Nets and the league’s annual all-star game, pitting the best from HITS against the top players from Baltimore.
“It meant everything to me,” Hoops in the Sun CEO Joe Cruz said. “He’s my childhood hero, the one I looked up to when I was playing basketball. I got his jersey, his first card. It’s like surreal for me. Somebody you idolize and you have a chance to meet him at my house? It’s definitely an honor.”
Anderson, 39, isn’t in the Big Apple much these days. He lives in Boca Raton, Fla., where he has a few things on the horizon. The Kenny Anderson Basketball Academy, co-run by 24 Hour Fitness, has two locations in the Sunshine State and sets out to train teenage players.
“I just love training kids, I love being in the gym,” Anderson said. “I love the smell of the gym. That’s just something I love to do.”
It also goes hand-in-hand with the other thing he wants to do: coaching. Anderson said he has had preliminary discussions with Florida Atlantic coach Mike Jarvis about being a part of his staff. The former Archbishop Molloy superstar previously coached the Atlanta Krunk of the CBA before the league was sold and underwent a reorganization.
“I played for a lot of great coaches and that’s a great thing for me,” Anderson said. “I’ll take a little bit from everybody, but I think I will be a pretty good coach, because I know the game. And now it’s how you get guys motivated, how you make that transition to teaching them.”
One of those great coaches, of course, is Molloy’s Jack Curran, who is the winningest head man in New York City high school basketball history. Anderson still says he calls Curran at least once or twice a month.
“That’s my favorite coach,” Anderson said. “I love him. He taught me how to lead a team, be a true point guard. I had the talent, but he taught me the inner [workings] of how to be a leader.”
The former Nets star hopes to be leading from the sidelines one day soon. The word meant so much to him that he got a college degree in it. Anderson calls that his biggest accomplishment.
“After leaving the game and after 20 years of not having my degree, going back and getting it — it was awesome,” he said. “There were times where I wanted to quit, but I kept pushing myself.”
