AJC > Sports > Columnists > Archives > 2007 > July > 06 > Entry
DEL.ICIO.USEx-Dogs basketball star shows sports’ good side
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Terence Moore
The feds digging in a star quarterback’s backyard. A wrestler strangling his wife and son before committing suicide. No end to the scandals involving performance-enhancing drugs. All of those mug shots, ranging from the likes of “Pacman” Jones to Los Angeles Lakers owner Jerry Buss to a slew of Georgia Bulldogs.
We interrupt the epidemic of bad stuff in sports to bring you the good stuff of Shandon Anderson.
For starters, after leaving Georgia with his considerable basketball talent for the NBA without a degree, Anderson returned this spring to Athens to get one.
It took a while.
Like 11 years.
“I dropped a freshman English course my first quarter there [in 1992], and I never went back,” said Anderson, 33, sighing with the memory. “I didn’t want to go into class with a bunch of 17-year-olds and 18-year-olds when I was a junior and senior, so I tried to make it up with correspondence courses. You keep saying to yourself, ‘I’ll get it done. I’ll get that one class,’ but you never do. Finally, I did get it done, and that’s because it was something I had to do for the sake of the kids.”
There is Anderson’s 10-year-old daughter, Kori, for instance. She is as impressionable as the youngsters that Anderson encounters through his four-year-old foundation. It is based in his native Atlanta, and it helps underprivileged youth improve their educational and social skills through mentors. “How are you going to tell a kid to do something if you’re not doing it yourself?” said Anderson, sounding like the anti-Charles Barkley, which means Anderson knows he is a role model.
With apologies to Barkley and others who don’t get it, we’re all role models, whether we like it or not, and we’re either positive ones or negative ones. Pro athletes just have more opportunities to become powerful ones through their high visibility. That’s why Anderson is flirting with little or no visibility as a player. After 10 seasons in the NBA that included a championship with the Miami Heat during his last season in
2005-06, Anderson’s pro career is more in the past than the present or the future, courtesy of a wrist injury.
No problem, though. Anderson has lots to do with the opening of his salon and spa in Atlantic Station. “It’s going to be nice, vibrant and upbeat,” he said, describing his new business and himself. “The theme of the place will center around these three islands — Bora Bora, Sri Lanka and Bali — where you can drop in to get away from the hustle and bustle of life.”
Entrepreneurship is wonderful, and Anderson added, “There are a few more things I want to venture into.” It’s just that his deepest passion involves his foundation that was inspired in 2003 when he visited Crim High School, his alma mater. He discovered more than a few clueless youngsters wandering the halls and classrooms. “It’s a shame, because of who the school is named for,” said Anderson, referring to Alonzo A. Crim, the first African-American superintendent of Atlanta public schools. “So we began programs such as Femininity 101, where we would bring in a bunch of the girls to teach them how to do their hair and proper grooming and things of that nature.”
The foundation has evolved so much that it just held a banquet to give scholarships to 20 needy student-athletes graduating from local high schools. “It was unbelievable, man,” said Anderson, with emotion, especially after he mentioned that, because both of his parents are deceased, he has leaned on Jacquelyn Mack, his former teacher at Crim who also is his godmother.
Which brings us back to Anderson’s college diploma.
Or is that Mack’s diploma?
“You want to satisfy the people around you, so that diploma definitely is not going to come my way,” said Anderson, laughing, adding that the diploma is hanging in Mack’s Decatur home. “For my godmother to see me finally accomplish that goal, I think it really means a lot to her.”
To her and to everybody else tired of seeing the police blotter in the middle of the sports section.
Permalink | Comments (9) | Post your comment | Categories: Terence Moore, UGA / SEC
Comments
By Ryder
July 6, 2007 9:06 PM | Link to this
Good stuff Terence. I know what it’s like to wait years to finish up on getting a degree, and props to Shandon Anderson for accomplishing that goal!
By Paul in J-ville
July 7, 2007 7:14 AM | Link to this
Finally! A good story without negativity. We all know its much more work to produce something that isn’t sensationalized, sexy, or controversial, we just can’t figure out why a journalist doesn’t know how to produce positive good messages when there are hundreds of success stories out there to be had. Congrats to Shandon, just proves anything is attainable when you set your mind to it. Yes, it is a positive role message to the youth and will touch someones heart and make a difference. Way to go S.A.
By D-Cider
July 7, 2007 8:20 AM | Link to this
Gee, Terence, did somebody slip something in your kool-aid and you accidently wrote a good news story? Saw you on ESPN a couple of times, still praying Vick gets suspended. Nice of you to single out African-Americans on the Vick issue that believe he is being picked on, and ignoring the fact that racism is still alive and well in the ATL with regards to the white community.
By NASCARfan
July 7, 2007 3:03 PM | Link to this
What the hell do you mean, a “slew” of Georgia Bulldogs?
Dude, seriously, get a life. Have Georgia Bulldogs been busted for huge coccaine and pot dealing, like guys at Tech have? Have they been charged with felonies like the guy from Florida has?
What was that? Misdemeanors? Acting like college students and drinking underage? I’m personally glad that’s all we have to deal with.
We could be Tech and teach terrorists the skills they need blow stuff up.
By cooter11
July 7, 2007 3:43 PM | Link to this
Hey, NASDOGfan, uga could teachemumhow to milk a cow.
By Leslie
July 7, 2007 9:16 PM | Link to this
Thanks D-Cider for your insight, lol. Very nice of you to say. The whole white community is racist. Thank you for bringing race, ONCE AGAIN, to these stupid blogs.
By JYoung
July 7, 2007 10:52 PM | Link to this
Great article about a great person.
By Scott
July 7, 2007 11:50 PM | Link to this
Way to go Shandon! It’s nice to hear an uplifting story every now and again. Great job Shandon Anderson for setting an example and Terence Moore for writing a positive article and not letting the story go untold.
By bigdawg88
July 7, 2007 11:55 PM | Link to this
Aw, why all the hateration?
Glad someone finally got around to writing something good about pro athletes for a change. Most of them are nice guys, but I guess nice guy stories don’t sell ads. Willie and Shandon are good positive role models and I’m proud of them; bulldawgs or not.
Hey AJC, how about making it a regular feature to put in an article about once a week on athletes who do good things that normally don’t get written about. Some of us like reading about good things once in awhile. Peace!