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Sherwin Anderson: From Brooklyn basketball star to life coach

Bishop Loughlin HS prepared him for Xavier U fame

October 30, 2020 Andy Furman Special to the Brooklyn Eagle
Sherwin Anderson’s journey took him from Brooklyn to Cincinnati. Photo courtesy of Xavier University via Andy Furman
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Sherwin Anderson was ready for the pandemic. In fact, he was ready years ago.

“Brooklyn,” he told the Eagle, “prepared me well for my life now.”

His life now is in Cincinnati as a basketball trainer and life coach – after a stellar career as a four-year basketball star at Xavier University.

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“But I was prepared years ago for this pandemic,” he said. “Both my mom and dad worked night shifts, when I was in seventh and eighth grades. It was a lonely time – for long periods of time.”

The 46-year-old Anderson claims the toughness of Brooklyn and his own mental fortitude has helped him through the tough times of today with his wife and six kids – five girls and a boy.

Perhaps it was that toughness on the basketball court while playing for the New York Gauchos that helped Anderson gain tuition assistance to Bishop Loughlin High School.

How good was he for the Lions?

“All I can say is I started as a freshman,” he said.

Never a big-time scorer, his Loughlin career saw him average around 15 points-per-game – many of those points coming from his quick hands and steals.

And when the time came for college – wouldn’t you know it – it was someone from Brooklyn who helped clinch the deal.

“I had offers to Rutgers, Penn State, Manhattan and North Carolina State,” he said.

So why Xavier?

“Easy,” he said, “Pete Gillen.”

Gillen coached high school basketball at Brooklyn’s Nazareth Regional – and left for the college ranks. He ended up at Xavier of Ohio.

So did Anderson.

“Coach [Gillen] was familiar with the Brooklyn basketball scene,” Anderson said. “And was very comfortable visiting me in the projects.

“I remember,” he continued, “some 15-20 guys hanging around when [Gillen] visited me. Some were gang members – but it didn’t seem to bother him.

“The one thing that still remains with me,” Anderson recalled, “and I tell it to my kids, is what Coach told me: ‘I cannot guarantee you a starting position or a great career, but I can guarantee you will graduate Xavier.’”

Anderson was a two-year captain for the Musketeers, leading the nation in steals his junior year.

He did graduate – and so do 99 percent of their student athletes, according to school reports.

Anderson graduated with both a bachelor’s and a master’s degree from Xavier – then, he thought it was time to tour the world.

“I moved to Florida and played for the Harlem Globetrotters in Disneyland – and then returned to Cincinnati.

“I fell in love with the people and the family atmosphere,” he said.

Sherwin Anderson is a life coach. He says “life coaching” is helping a friend while they struggle.

“My goal,” he said, “is to be a friend to people.”

And during these trying times that’s the one thing people are looking for.

Andy Furman is a Fox Sports Radio national talk show host, previously, he was a scholastic sports columnist for the Brooklyn Eagle.


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