LYNN — Antonio Anderson has been on cloud nine for the past few months.
In March, Anderson coached the English boys basketball team to its first Division 1 state championship since 1939 and was named Northeastern Conference Coach of the Year. In April, Anderson was named USA Today’s All-USA Massachusetts Boys Basketball Coach of the Year. Anderson, 33, will take a trip down memory lane Saturday night, when he’ll be officially inducted into the Lynn Tech Hall of Fame.
“It’s huge,” Anderson said. “Growing up, never in a million years did I think I’d make it to a high school hall of fame. I was able to play in a national championship game in college. I won a championship in the D-League. This is awesome. It’s something I can talk to my kids about. It’s a good feeling.
“The committee did a great job,” said Anderson, who has coached the English boys basketball team for the past two seasons. “To be in the hall of fame at Tech, where I went to high school, means a lot.”
Anderson transferred to Tech after one year at English. He helped the Tigers win a state championship in 2002 and graduated in 2003. After a post-graduate year at Leonberg Prep in North Carolina, Anderson took his talents to Division I Memphis. At Memphis, Anderson was coached by John Calipari, who’s now at Kentucky, and played alongside Derrick Rose of the Minnesota Timberwolves. The Tigers reached the championship game of the 2008 NCAA Tournament.
Of the 151 games Anderson played in a Tigers uniform, Memphis won 137. He was inducted into Memphis’ “M Club” Hall of Fame in 2018.
Anderson played professionally overseas, in the G-League and briefly for the NBA’s Oklahoma City Thunder in 2010. He stepped into the coaching realm in 2014, serving as an assistant on the coaching staffs at Wheelock, Salem State and Franklin Pierce.
He said his time at Tech was an important chapter in his basketball career.
“It was great,” Anderson said. “For me it was a learning curve. I was at English before that. I transferred to Tech, to be with a lot of friends and people I grew up with. That made it easier for me when basketball season came around.
“Winning the state championship was a great memory, along with playing with friends and people I care about,” Anderson said. “I got to play for Coach (Marvin) Avery, who is like an uncle to me. I still keep in touch with my teammates. I still keep in touch with Coach Avery to this day. We all still stay in touch. They support me, I support them. It’s awesome.”
Joining Anderson as 2019 inductees are Kathy Alukonis (class of 1988), Diana Badger (1981), Dennis Barton (1978), Drew Bennett (1973), Kenell Broomstein (2004), Frank Cassell (1982), Dianna Chakoutis (1984), Patrick McGrath (1973), Geraldo Raffaele (1989), Craig Whicomb Sr. (1990) and Kevin Woodbury (1976). The induction ceremony begins at 6:30 p.m. at Angelica’s in Middleton.
