FILE PHOTO
New English boys basketball coach Antonio Anderson played in an NCAA men’s basketball national final in 2008.
By STEVE KRAUSE
LYNN — Former collegiate basketball star Antonio Anderson has been appointed the new coach of the Lynn English boys team, athletic director Dick Newton announced today.
Anderson replaces the late Mike Carr, who died of cancer in January.
Anderson, who attended Lynn Tech and was part of the Tigers’ 2002 state championship team, played for John Calipari and the University of Memphis. In 2008, his junior season, the Tigers went to the national championship game, losing in overtime to Kansas. Although it was later determined that Memphis had violated NCAA rules, causing the governing body to vacate the Tigers’ regional championship, Anderson was not involved in the alleged infraction.
In 2009, he signed a free-agent contract with the then-Charlotte Bobcats before joining the NBA’s Development League.
He signed two 10-day contracts with the Oklahoma City Thunder before returning to the Rio Grande Valley Vipers of the D-League. He also signed a contract to play in Germany.
Since returning to Lynn, Anderson, who will turn 32 in June, has become acting in the city’s youth basketball programs. He conducts a skills camp, along with English girls coach McKenzie Charles and Eastern Nazarine College assistant Jake Canty.
His brother, Anthony, was a star for English and helped lead the 2000 Bulldogs to the Division1 North final. He went onto play for UMass Amherst.
“We’re really happy that Antonio wanted the job,” said athletic director Dick Newton. “He’s a fantastic addition to the athletic program. His experiences as a player, his connection to the community … it seems like a very good fit for English.”