On this episode of A Southern Girl’s View with Sandy Adams podcast, I am catching up with former University of Memphis Tiger basketball Hall of Famer, Antonio Anderson. We talk about growing up in Lynn Massachusetts, the thrill of basketball, coaching in his hometown and his love affair with the city of Memphis. And yes, we even chat about THAT game. You know the one… on April 7, 2008.
Antonio Anderson attended the University of Memphis from (2005-09), and is a native of Lynn, Massachusetts. While at Memphis, he received eight career honors from Conference USA as a player for the Tiger basketball team. During his storied career at Memphis, Anderson helped his teams advance to the Sweet 16 of the NCAA tournament each of his four seasons, as well as three Elite Eight appearances and in his junior year to the 2008 National Championship game against Kansas.
The Tiger guard wearing #5 on his jersey, scored a total 1,277 points while at Memphis and is currently ranked as the 21st all-time leading scorer in Memphis basketball history and added a few other impressive stats and awards as well.
During his playing career at Memphis, he helped lead the Tigers to a combined four-year record of 137 wins to 14 losses. Anderson, along with 2 other Memphis seniors, Robert Dozier and Chance McGrady, finished his career at Memphis with the most wins of any player in NCAA history.
A 6ft 6 guard who took incredible pride in his defense, Antonio graduated from the University of Memphis in 2009. Currently, Antonio is the head coach at Lynn English High School (LEHS), in Lynn, Massachusetts where he grew up. Recently completing his 3rd year as head coach at LEHS, the team just won their 2nd straight state championship and have a 63-9 record over his 3 years as head coach.
During my prep for this interview, I found a beautiful quote from Antonio.
“We carried ourselves with a swagger because we knew what basketball meant to the city of Memphis,” Anderson said. “We loved the fact that every time we laced them up at the Forum, there’s 18,000 people rooting for us and cheering us on.”
And yes, the city of Memphis does indeed love you. You, Antonio Anderson, will forever be a Memphian and a Tiger.
Update 10/8/20: Currently there is a documentary campaign underway to tell Antonio’s incredible and powerful story of a kid from the suburbs of Boston, raised by a single mother and how he used basketball to get an education while at the same time breaking records in the NCAA that still exist today. It is the story of a kid who had to overcome incredible health issues in the past few years that cost him his basketball playing future, but he survived and, in true Antonio fashion, succeeded to teach and inspire the next generation of young boys that basketball can be a vehicle to get you out of your neighbor, but also how basketball can get you an education and put you on the path to an even more incredible future. Antonio is a humble and amazing individual that continues to inspire and exceed in every aspect of his life. To help support the making of his documentary >>Antonio Anderson Documentary funding campaign<<
Now let’s catch up with Memphis’s own, Antonio Anderson…
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