Published: April 3, 2008

Though the 2007-08 men’s basketball season came to a heartbreaking conclusion, senior point guard Kevin Anderson, FCRH ’08, felt, “Being a senior on the team was great, even though we didn’t quite have the season we wanted.”

The Fordham University Rams were eliminated from the Atlantic 10 Conference Tournament on March 12 with a first round 80-62 defeat to the fifth-seeded St. Joseph’s University Hawks.

“The end of the season is always sad, especially being a senior and knowing that I’m not coming back to play at Fordham,” Anderson said. “But I have made lifelong friendships with my teammates. Even though I won’t be around next year, we’ll keep in touch.”

“Kevin is a great guy on and off the court,” said forward Sebastian Greene, FCRH ’08. “He brings the team together so much that I feel like without him, we wouldn’t be a team. I love playing with him and having him as my floor general.”

Reflecting on his time with the Rams, Anderson, who has played basketball since the third grade, said “I felt like we have put Fordham back in the [minds] of the A-10, rather than being just a cakewalk team for other schools in the conference.”

Fordham head coach Dereck Whittenburg agrees that the program has seen forward progress in recent years.

“This group of seniors restored a lot of pride to the Fordham men’s basketball program,” Whittenburg said. “We asked them to do a lot and even though we didn’t accomplish what we set out to do this year, I’m really proud of these guys for how far they’ve taken the program.”

Anderson knows from experience that success in basketball goes beyond a team’s win-loss record.

“I’ve really learned about life through basketball,” Anderson said. “My father was a basketball coach and player, so I was always around it. I picked it up through him.”

The life lessons basketball taught Anderson have served him well in moving to New York to attend Fordham.

“Coming from the suburbs of Ohio into the big city was a little bit of a culture shock for me,” Anderson said. “But I feel like I’ve met a lot of people and adapted well to the lifestyle here.”

Ranked second on the team this season in assists (76) and steals (29), Anderson was an integral part of this year’s team. His presence was also felt in ways that didn’t necessarily translate to a statistics sheet.

“On the court, he always looked for the open guy instead of taking his own shot,” said forward Ryan Munson, FCRH ’10. “There is no way anyone could ever call Kevin selfish because he places others in front of himself on and off the court.”

Anderson’s skill and positive attitude will not be forgotten by his teammates after the year concludes.

“Kevin is probably one of the funniest guys I’ve met, but he’s still very responsible at what he does,” said Greene. “I’m going to miss the way he used to hold the opposing team’s best players below their averages.”