‘If you don’t quit, you can make it.’ Ex-Cat graduated from UK at age 46 last week.
For former Kentucky player Derek Anderson, life has been about perseverance. No coincidence that he chose “Stamina” as the title of his book, which was published in 2013.
In chronological order, Anderson has dealt with growing up without a father, an eventful college basketball experience that included three schools and two torn anterior cruciate ligaments, becoming the father of six boys and now — at age 46 — completing work on a degree in psychology from the University of Kentucky.
Anderson graduated last Friday.
“If you don’t quit, you can make it,” he said Tuesday. “So, it’s more like stamina kept me winning. The more I kept going, the more I won.”
Anderson said he received a “B” grade in the one class he needed for his degree.
A return to schoolwork 23 years after he left UK was “very difficult,” he said. It being an online class was another challenge.
“I’m a visual learner,” he said, meaning that human contact helps him learn. “If a coach tells me to do X, Y and Z, I’m, like, OK, I got it. I know what you’re saying. If you just text me, I don’t know what you mean.”
Four of Anderson’s six sons are 12 years old or younger. The youngest are Atlas, 3, and Ace, 1. He fit in his schoolwork around the children, for whom he cooks breakfast each morning.
“I studied during the day when the kids took a nap . . . ,” he said. “I’m a stay-at-home dad. So, I pretty much worked on the sofa all day long.”
The pride he took in earning a college degree included being happy about the example he set.
“It’s something good for my kids to see,” he said. “It’s never too late.”
When asked what it means to be a father, Anderson said, “It means a lot because I didn’t have a father.”
His father, Thomas “Teddy” Williams, left his life when Anderson was 10. His father and mother had a tempestuous relationship, the former UK player said. An uncle filled the void.
As an adult, Anderson reunited with his father. Son and father talked about their lives. The father served in the military. The father said he stayed away not because he did not want to see his son, but because he did not want to see Anderson’s mother.
“As a man, I can see how you can get busy and not spend a lot of time with your kids . . . ,” he said. “I forgave him, and we started having fun, laughing and joking.”
About a year after the father-and-son reunion, cancer claimed the father.
“I look at that as to never judge a person by what they’ve done in their past,” Anderson said. “See what they’re doing now. It taught me a lot.”
Anderson still lives in his native Louisville. As a standout point guard for Doss High School, he committed to play for U of L. “I had the whole hat and shirt ready to sign,” he said of the ceremony he expected.
Anderson paused when he heard that Louisville was intending to redshirt its incoming freshman class. He could not get through to then-coach Denny Crum.
Meanwhile, Ohio State Coach Randy Ayers called. Anderson said he was wavering on the commitment to U of L.
“So, he got in the car and drove three hours from Columbus, Ohio,” Anderson said of Ayers.
The Ohio State coach said the Buckeyes’ star guard, Jimmy Jackson, was entering the NBA Draft. Anderson said yes to Ayers’ scholarship offer.
Anderson averaged 10.2 points as a freshman for Ohio State. He averaged 15.0 points in a sophomore season cut short by a torn ACL in his left knee.
With talk of Ohio State going on probation and expecting to sit out the next season anyway as he rehabbed the knee, Anderson decided to transfer. Then-UK Coach Rick Pitino called and sold Anderson on his program’s uptempo style.
Anderson contributed 9.4 ppg and 61 steals to Kentucky’s run to the 1996 national championship. UK might have won it again the following season had Anderson not torn the ACL in his right knee.
“That’s why I wrote ‘Stamina,’” Anderson said. “How many guys can tear both ACLs and play 11 years in the NBA and jump as high as I did. Keep working hard. You never know.”
A highlight of his pro career came in 2006 when Anderson played for the NBA champion Miami Heat.
Anderson has plans for the UK diploma he’s awaiting in the mail. He said he will frame it and hang in on a wall between his college and pro championship rings.
This story was originally published December 9, 2020 at 3:43 PM.
