It was a bittersweet day for Ellen Anderson.
On Saturday, Bowling Green dressed up Anderson Arena for the last regular-season men’s basketball game to
be played there. The 13-player All-Anderson team was introduced and over 50 former players were
recognized at halftime of the game with Buffalo. After the game there was a video of some of the great
moments in the history of Anderson Arena and remarks from Nate Thurmond, arguably the best player to
ever wear a Falcon uniform.
That night, there was a going away party for the arena, in use on the campus for 50-some years
More than 500 people gathered to share memories, view a display set up by Mickey Cochrane from the
athletic department archives and bid on auction items ranging from a brunch with Thurmond to a
basketball autographed by the All-Anderson team.
Ellen Anderson took it all in, while thinking about the man the arena is named for — Harold Anderson, her
father, who was 367-195 as Bowling Green’s head basketball coach from 1942-1963. He is a member of the
National Basketball Hall of Fame.
“It’s wonderful how much this place had meant to everybody, the town, former students, everyone who has
come here,” Anderson said Saturday evening. “It’s been really nice. I saw a lot of the old players.
“I remember coming here with my dad when they were building it,” she continued. “I can remember the first
game (against Hillsdale College in 1960).”
Anderson said all the players were special to her father. It was more than just basketball for Harold
Anderson. He was molding 18- to 22-year-olds into young men, who were going to be productive members of
society.
“That’s the biggest legacy really,” Anderson said. “He wanted them to be successful in life and if you
won some games along the way that was good too.”
The All-Anderson team consists of Cornelius Cash, Antonio Daniels, Bob Dwors, David Greer, Colin Irish,
Shane Kline-Ruminski, Howard Komives, Keith McLeod, Marcus Newbern, Jim Penix, Walt Piatkowski, Anthony
Stacey and Thurmond. Eight of the 13 members were present Saturday.
For Stacey, who is the school’s leading scorer with 1,938 points, is was “one of the best days of my
life, by far … I haven’t been this excited for any event in a long time.
“Bowling Green has always treated me like a son. It’s always been a second home to me. I’ve always
appreciated the love and how they have accepted me as a son,” Stacey continued. “It’s obvious they need
a new arena, but it’s kind of sad to see this one go. When it’s full and rocking, there is nothing like
it.
“I can still remember when we were warming up (before the game), they would open the doors and students
would sprint to get as close to the floor as they could. You can’t beat that.”
Stacey (1995-2000) said he had a lot of great memories from Anderson Arena, including the night he broke
Komives’ scoring record.
But Saturday may have topped them all.
“To be standing side-by-side with Nate Thurmond is like a dream come true,” Stacey said.
Cash was a dominant player from 1972-75 and is one of only two players, Thurmond is the other, to score
over 1,000 points and grab over 1,000 rebounds in their careers. Both Cash and Thurmond accomplished the
feat in only three seasons.
“It’s a great thing. I was pretty close to not making it for certain reasons, but I managed to pull it
off and I’m glad I did. It was worth every minute,” Cash said. “During the time I played here, we played
some big-boys’ schools home and away. We went into some big arenas, some hostile environments, but I
knew in this arena that the energy was so high, that with that crowd behind us we go pretty much beat
(anyone). That’s what I like about this arena.”
For Kline-Ruminski (1991-95) it was a “blast from the past. The campus has changed, but when you walk
into this arena, it hasn’t changed a bit and it felt like home.
“I never got to meet some of the guys from the past who played before me. I would always look at the book
(media guide) especially my freshman year and look at all those guys. To meet some of these people has
been great,” he continued. “It’s kind of an honor to be on the same team as those guys … I was very
surprised.
“I wanted to know if someone made a big donation on my behalf. Maybe someone said, here’s a couple
hundred thousand dollars, put him on the team,” Kline-Ruminski said with a laugh.