Benny Anders was a star player at the University of Houston during the early 1980s and a member of the school's so-called Phi Slama Jama basketball fraternity that included Akeem Olajuwon, Clyde Drexler, Michael Young, Alvin Franklin, Reid Gettys, and Larry Micheaux.
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A cousin of former NBA legend Willis Reed, Anders was an all-state high school player in Bernice, Louisiana. In high school, Anders earned the nickname "The Outlaw."
At the University of Houston, Anders, who wore #32, was part of the great Guy Lewis-coached Cougar teams that featured Hakeem (then Akeem) Olajuwon and Clyde Drexler, both of whom would later rank among the top 50 NBA players of all time.
In Houston's 1983 NCAA championship game against North Carolina State University, Anders scored 10 points of 4 of 9 shooting from the field.
On December 26, 1983, Anders, a 6-foot-5 guard/forward who Micheaux once described as "the best athlete on the team," left the University of Houston after complaining about a lack of playing time. He returned a month later.
Something of a curiosity, at the 1984 Final Four in Seattle, Anders arrived wearing a tux with a pink bow-tie and cummerbund and sunglasses. After the University of Kentucky was eliminated from the tournament, their Wildcat fans adopted Anders, hoisting signs that read "Benny Anders for President."
In section 3A, page 76, of Chuck Klosterman's 2009 book Eating the Dinosaur, Klosterman claims Anders was kicked off of the University of Houston Basketball team, at least in part, after bringing a handgun to practice, and his whereabouts since are unknown, in Klosterman's paraphrasing of an ESPN anniversary article by writer Robert Weintraub.[1]
According to Klosterman's essay, Weintraub reported on various rumors regarding Anders' life since his time with the Cougars on page 76 of the essay: "Some claimed he was last seen in South America. Others say Chicago. Still others insist that he continues to play basketball on the streets of Louisiana, eating glass as a not-so-small Forward."
Following his collegiate career, Anders played professionally in the Philippine Basketball Association for Tanduay Rhum and South America.[2][3]