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23 Dwight Anderson

Name
Dwight Anderson
Position
Guard-Forward
Class
SO
Hometown (Last School)
Dayton, OH (Roth)
Ht
6'3"
Wt
175
Seasons
1978-79, 1979-80
Birthday
December 28, 1960

Dwight Anderson was born Dwight Anthony Anderson on December 28, 1960, in Dayton, Ohio, to Joe Walker and Fannie Walker. He had two brothers, Jeff and Doug, and one sister, Toni. Anderson’s father is a native of the Morganfield, Kentucky area, which has also provided Kentucky with guard Dwane Casey, who is a cousin of Anderson, and forward Freddie Cowan.

He played at Kentucky from 1978 to 1979 before transferring to Southern California halfway through his sophomore season.

Anderson attended Roth High School in Dayton, where he was a three-sport star. He was named to the All-State team in basketball and football. As a sophomore, he averaged 20.2 points per game, hitting 64 percent from the field, and averaged eight rebounds to help Roth to the 1976 State Class AA championship. He was selected to the Daily News All-Public League and All-Greater Dayton first teams, the Class AA All-Tournament team, and Honorable Mention All-State. As a junior he averaged 24.1 points a game, shooting 61 percent, and grabbed 11 rebounds a game, again receiving the Daily News All-Public and All-Greater Dayton first-team honors along with being chosen Player of the Year in both. He was chosen first-team All-Southwestern Ohio and second-team All-State. Many considered him the greatest basketball product Dayton produced. He led Roth to the state championship in 1975-76 as a sophomore, averaged 38 points, 14 rebounds, and 11 assists a game as a senior, and was named a McDonald’s All-American and Parade All-American. In his three seasons at Roth, Anderson scored 1,469 points to break the Dayton scoring record held by former Meadowdale High School and University of Kentucky star Mike Pratt.

On March 23, 1978, Anderson signed an SEC letter of intent to play for Kentucky. Anderson, who was sought by 300 schools, cited numerous reasons for choosing Kentucky. “I am a Kentucky basketball fan,” he said. “I love the way they play. They also have a lot of good teams on their schedule.” He said he was impressed with the 23,000-seat Rupp Arena, the type of competition he would be up against and the national exposure afforded by Kentucky basketball. “I will also get a chance to play with my cousin, Dwane Casey, whom I did not meet until Kentucky played in the Mideast Regional at Dayton. There are other relatives around the Morganfield area who will be able to see me play.” Anderson boiled his choices down to Kentucky and the University of Dayton, “There are fine people at Dayton,” he said, “and they treated me swell. The Kentucky people also were real nice, I wanted to play pretty close to home and Kentucky is close enough for my folks to drive down and see me play.”

Anderson played in 29 games as a freshman, averaging 13.3 points and 5.5 rebounds per game. He quickly earned the nickname “The Blur” and “Dwight Lightning.” On December 30, 1978, Kentucky, down by 12 points midway through the second half, rallied to upset No. 2 Notre Dame behind 17 points from Anderson, all in the second half. He gained a starting berth in his 14th game as a Wildcat. He was second on the team in scoring and third in time played with 807 minutes. On February 12, 1979, Anderson scored a career-high 26 points and grabbed a career-high 14 rebounds as Kentucky defeated Mississippi State, 80-65. Anderson showed brilliant play during the later part of the season and was named to All-SEC Freshman team. On March 3, 1979, against LSU in the semi-finals of the SEC Tournament, Anderson suffered a broken left wrist on the first offensive play of the game. Attempting a reverse layup, he fell to the floor after only 23 seconds had elapsed. He was helped from the arena, never to return to the game. Kentucky won, 80-67. Anderson had scored nearly 20 points a game in the last eight games before breaking his wrist. Dr. V.A. Jackson, the UK team physician, said after the game that Anderson’s wrist would be placed in a cast and that the forward would be lost for at least three or four weeks.

Anderson played in 11 games as a sophomore, averaging 10.7 points. On December 26, 1979, UK announced that Anderson had quit the team due to “personal reasons.” His father stated that he thought Anderson felt like UK had left him out of their new offensive scheme. While UK athletic officials didn’t specify Anderson’s “personal reasons,” Coach Joe B. Hall said at mid-semester that Anderson would be academically ineligible to play during the second semester if he missed even one more class. One television sportscaster indicated that Anderson had violated a team rule and that Hall had meted out certain punishment, which Anderson refused to accept. Another report, printed, said that Anderson did not even return trom a three-day Christmas break Hall ordered for the team following it’s UKIT championship. Anderson also reportedly told the Washington Post that he didn’t like playing with Kyle Macy. His final game was against Purdue on December 22, 1979. He had scored 8 points.

A report by Billy Reed of the Courier-Journal from February 12, 1980 reported that Anderson says he quit the Kentucky basketball team because the fun was gone. “At Kentucky, you give 24 hours all the time,” said Anderson by telephone from Los Angeles. “I didn’t know that. I thought you play ball and practice, and then you’re on your own. After practice, they’re still on you.” Moreover, UK coach Joe B. Hall took the fun out of playing that season, Anderson told The Courier-Journal in his first in-depth interview since leaving UK. “At Kentucky, it’s work; you gotta be serious,” Anderson said. “I’ll be serious when I need to, but the game is fun to me, and I want to express that. At Kentucky, if you do that, you’re wrong.” Specifically, Anderson didn’t like the way Hall substituted. “If I had a shot, I wouldn’t take it,” Anderson said. “I knew if I missed, he’d take me out. If I made a mistake, I knew he’d take me out. That’s what I was going through. You can’t play like that, worry about being taken out. I didn’t want to go through that the rest of college.”

Anderson visited the University of Southern California the weekend of December 28, 1979, just days after UK announced his departure. It was announced in early February of 1980 that Anderson had begun practicing with the Trojans.

Anderson became eligible for USC during the second half of the 1981 season and played the entire 1982 season for the Trojans. Anderson led the Trojans in scoring average both seasons and left Troy with a then-school career scoring average record of 20.0 points per game.

As a junior in 1981, Anderson averaged 19.3 points, 6.3 rebounds, 3.2 assists in 12 games for the Trojans. Following the season he was given the Ernie Holbrook Memorial Award as the most inspirational player and the John Rudometkin 110% Effort Award at the team’s postseason banquet.

As a senior in the 1981-82 season, Anderson averaged 20.3 points, 4.1 rebounds and 2.0 assists in 27 games for USC. He was named All-Pac-10 first team and All-American honorable mention while earning USC co-MVP honors. He helped lead USC to a 19-9 record and into the NCAA Tournament.

Anderson is also remembered by many for making the famous “behind-the-backboard shot” in the game vs. Washington on March 6, 1982 at the Los Angeles Sports Arena. Anderson retrieved an errant pass behind the backboard, spun in the air as he fell out of bounds and shot it over the backboard and in for a basket, one which now would be illegal.

He was drafted by Washington in the first round of the 1982 NBA Draft with the 11th overall pick. However, Anderson never played in the NBA.

Anderson was a gifted athlete with a natural ability to score the basketball. He was also a good rebounder and defender. He was known for his electrifying athleticism and his ability to play above the rim.

Anderson passed away on September 5, 2020, at his home in Dayton.

College Statistics:

NCAA

SeasonTeamMINFGMFGA3PM3PAFTMFTAORDRPFASTTOBLKSTLPTSGMPGFG%FT%3P%RPGAPGSPGBPGPPG
Kentucky807128252001311810868260623193872928.950.7971.9803.02.10.70.113.3
Kentucky28247101002431013252425131181125.646.5377.4201.22.20.30.110.7
Total-10891753530015521209910784874225054028.049.5872.7702.52.10.60.112.6

Career Totals

SeasonMINFGMFGA3PM3PAFTMFTAORDRPFASTTOBLKSTLPTSGMPGFG%FT%3P%RPGAPGSPGBPGPPG
1978-79807128252001311810868260623193872928.950.7971.9803.02.10.70.113.3
1979-8028247101002431013252425131181125.646.5377.4201.22.20.30.110.7
Total10891753530015521209910784874225054028.049.5872.7702.52.10.60.112.6

Photo Gallery:

On This Day In UK Basketball History

On March 28, 1992, in what many called the “best NCAA Tournament game ever,” Kentucky takes defending NCAA champion Duke into overtime before losing 104-103 in the East Regional finals in Philadelphia. A last-second shot by Christian Laettner sends Duke to the Final Four, and breaks the hearts of Wildcat fans everywhere. It is Cawood Ledford’s last game as the “Voice of the Wildcats.”

 

On March 28, 1998, against Stanford, Kentucky rallied from a 10-point second-half deficit, then grabbed a 5-point overtime lead, before fending off the Cardinals to advance to the title game for the third straight season. Jeff Sheppard canned three long-range three-pointers - two in the final three minutes and one in overtime - en route to a career-high 27 points.

 

On March 28, 2014, unranked Kentucky beat No. 5 Louisville 74-69, in the 2014 NCAA Tournament Sweet 16.  Aaron Harrison buried a three-pointer from the left corner with 39 seconds left that put UK ahead to stay before 41,072 in Lucas Oil Stadium.

 

On March 28, 2015, No. 1 Kentucky defeated No. 8 Notre Dame, 68-66, in the 2015 NCAA Tournament Elite Eight.  With its 37-0 record on the line, Kentucky trailed Notre Dame 59-53 with 6:14 left. UK rallied in front of 19,464 fans in Cleveland’s Quicken Loans Arena and preserved its perfect season thanks to a crucial blocked shot by Willie Cauley-Stein and two game-deciding free throws from Andrew Harrison in the final seconds.

 

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