‘The best that ever was here’: Legend returns to Beach Ball Classic as a college coach
Kenny Anderson’s recollections of his three appearances in the Beach Ball Classic in the late 1980s are less vivid since a stroke two years ago impacted his memory.
But those who saw him play at Socastee High School, where the tournament was held those days, certainly remember the performances he put on.
Anderson is regarded by many who have watched or been affiliated with the tournament for most or all of its 40 years as the best player ever at the Beach Ball.
During the 30th playing of the Beach Ball in 2010, Anderson was voted the tournament’s No. 1 all-time player by sponsors, observers and fans in attendance, and the long list of greats included stars such as Kobe Bryant, Vince Carter, Jason Kidd, Mike Bibby, Kevin Garnett, Jermaine O’Neal and Rasheed Wallace.
“And it wasn’t even close,” said Beach Ball executive director John Rhodes, who has been involved with the tournament since its founding and invited Anderson to attend this year. “If you’d seen him play you would have understood why they don’t forget him. Kenny was the most complete player to play here.
“It’s unbelievable how many people have come up and spoken to him this week and told him, ‘You’re the best that ever was here,’ “ Rhodes said.
Anderson, 50, has returned to the Beach Ball this year for the first time since he was a player 1988 in another role. He is in his third season as the coach of historically black Fisk University in Nashville, Tennessee, which competes at the NAIA level.
“I had some great times at the Beach Ball Classic. This is my first time here [since 1988],” he said. “It’s kind of strange because now I”m coaching and I’m looking at players to get, knowing I had success here in the tournament. It’s just interesting and great being back in South Carolina.”
The Beach Ball is being played through Thursday night at the Myrtle Beach Convention Center and Myrtle Beach Sports Center, and again features several of the nation’s top high school teams and players.
Anderson, a New York City playground and prep legend from the LeFrak City region of Queens, was the tournament’s Most Outstanding Player as a wizardly sophomore point guard at Archbishop Molloy (NY) High in 1986 when his team lost to Eau Claire in the championship game, and he was the MVP the next two years when the Stanners won back-to-back titles.
Anderson’s legendary late former high school coach Jack Curran regularly brought both basketball and baseball teams to Myrtle Beach for tournaments. “He loved Myrtle Beach,” said Anderson, who recalls playing against Jimmy Jackson, Grant Hill and Eau Claire’s Barry Manning in Myrtle Beach.
“As a school we didn’t take too many trips, so this was one of the trips we looked forward to,” Anderson said. “Being from New York, coming down to Myrtle Beach was an exciting time for us around Christmas, just to hang out and get familiar not just with the surroundings but our team, becoming close-knit. I had a lot of fun here at the Beach Ball Classic.
“It’s great, when I walk around town some of the guys say I’m the No. 1 player ever that came out of the Beach Ball Classic, so it’s great to hear that about yourself and about a game I love.”
Anderson said the stroke has caused his memory to be “scattered, but that’s the only [lasting] thing, God bless,” he said. “I have an appointment once a month to check and everything has been good. The people at Vanderbilt hospital have been awesome. I really thank them for everything, for my health.”
He had just finished coaching Fisk in his first season when he went home for a week break and had the stroke. “I blame it on them sometimes when I want to joke around with my [players]: ‘Y’all caused it. We were losing too and everything and ‘Boom,’ ” Anderson quipped.
Anderson was coaching an AAU team out of South Florida that included his son prior to being hired by Fisk in September 2018.
“I just wanted to coach, and HBCU is my black culture, and I wanted to learn a little bit more about my black culture,” Anderson said. “Because I went to Catholic school, Archbishop Molloy High School, then I went to Georgia Tech, so it’s a lot different. I want to give the young men I’m coaching my life lessons, maybe I can help them grow as human beings.”
Anderson was the No. 2 pick in the 1991 NBA Draft by the New Jersey Nets out of Georgia Tech, behind UNLV’s Larry Johnson. He played 14 years in the NBA through 2005 and was an all-star with the Nets.
The documentary “Mr. Chibbs” chronicles Anderson’s difficult childhood, rise to NBA stardom and fall after his NBA career, including a bankruptcy filing in 2005 – the year his mother died – and DUI arrest in 2013 that cost him a high school coaching job. Chibbs is the middle name his mother and others in his neighborhood called him.
He believes the full life he has led – the highs and the lows – is what has equipped him to be an impactful coach for young men.
“Coming from New York, a one-parent home, coming from a struggle,” Anderson said. “Basketball is easy for me. Life is hard. It’s been so difficult, but this has been the apple pie of my life – basketball.
“. . . I always wanted to coach. We ask ourselves, ‘What are you coaching for?’ And I’m coaching to help young men to do what they like to do. That’s to play basketball, get a scholarship, do well in life, whatever that means to you. I want to be around good kids that understand the word ‘life.’ What I can do is give those kids motivation to get a good job, to play basketball, enjoy it, and give them certain things they may not be having growing up in their life now.”
He’s in Myrtle Beach trying to find some power forwards or centers to go along with some talented guards at Fisk. “We’ve got some talent, but they’re all guards, so I’m just trying to change up what my school can usually go after. I just want some big guys, 6-8 or 6-6. I’d like three and put them to our team, what we have now, and we’ll be in great shape.”
This is the first large high school tournament he has attended as Fisk’s head coach.
“It’s been fruitful because I’ve met a lot of coaches and that’s going to further enhance my recruiting,” Anderson said. “I have to get out more and recruit for my school, and that’s what I plan on doing.”
The tournament is a lot different now than when Anderson played in it. It has grown tremendously, and his participation along with the heralded Archbishop Molloy program for several consecutive years in the early days helped spur that growth.
“It’s all big now. Big gym, civic center. I’m like, ‘Wow,’ “ Anderson said. “We played in a high school gym. Everybody was on top of everybody. It was awesome man. It was exciting.”
