Kenny Anderson is new hoops coach at tiny Jewish school
Kenny Anderson is making a comeback to basketball, but not in the way or place you might think.
The legendary point guard is indeed returning to the greater basketball community, though now he's trying to break through into coaching. That Anderson would eventually try to become a coach may not seem so surprising, but the venue in which his head coaching career will begin is a bit of a head scratcher: Anderson was hired by Davie (Fla.) David Posnack Jewish Day School, a tiny, Jewish-affiliated (hey, it's there in the name, isn't it?) prep school in suburban Miami.
How small is David Posnack? The entire school population counts just 120 members, according to an article about Anderson's new gig published by Bloomberg.
According to the Miami Herald, Anderson decided that he wanted to start a career in coaching over the summer, the latest step in a recovery from dire financial straits. Living in Pembroke Pines, Florida, near David Posnack's campus in Davie, Anderson angled unsuccessfully for an assistant coaching gig at the University of Miami when new coach Jim Larranaga was cobbling together his staff.
The former NBA All-Star didn't get enough interest from Miami to help him land a position, but he did get close enough to a job to stoke his passion for teaching basketball to a level that encouraged him to chase other jobs. And when the David Posnack position was opened up as a possibility for him, Anderson said he was ready to take a chance on a school which claims it aims to grow significantly, particularly when it comes to athletic reputation.
"It's really a perfect fit for both of us," David Posnack athletic director Mitch Evron told the Herald. "For where we both are."
While Anderson won't be drawn on how long his marriage with the Posnack program will last, he insisted that he is confident he can bring a team together and teach basketball "the right way," regardless of the talent of the players he's instructing.
At age 40, Anderson isn't a particularly young coaching novice, but his professional reputation is likely to continue opening other coaching opportunities to him, particularly if his first foray or two prove successful.
Of course, that speculation would assume that Anderson eventually leaves Posnack, an eventuality which he isn't yet ready to accede to.
"This school reminds me of [Archbishop Molloy, Anderson's own alma mater]," Anderson told the Herald. "Student-[first], and an athlete second. And the family atmosphere -- the whole fact that everybody shows a lot of love, shows a lot of togetherness.
"[Posnack is an opportunity to] start small -- and maybe stay small."
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