Former Dunbar star Anderson continues hoops journey with Air Strikers

Dunbar, Sinclair star makes home debut with pros tonight.


Dayton Air Strikers Roster

Player

Pos.

Ht, Wt

Last school

Tayloe Taylor*

G

6-3, 175

East Tennessee State

P.J. Hill*

G

6-1, 170

Ohio State

Nate Miles*

G

6-7, 170

Southern Idaho

Quade Milum*

F

6-8, 190

Akron

Reggie George*

C

6-9, 230

Robert Morris

Shane Ross

F

6-7, 235

Glen Oaks CC

Devan Evans Dumes

G

6-3, 200

Indiana

Darrien Griffin

F

6-4, 190

Jackson State

DeAngelo Jordan

F

6-4, 200

Owens CC

Todd Sowell

F

6-7, 260

St. Peter’s

Mark Anderson

F

6-8, 220

Sinclair CC

*Starters

Schedule

Date

Opponent

Dec. 31

at Rochester RazorSharks (W, 115-108)

Jan. 6

at Saint John Mill Rats (L, 116-100)

Today

Rochester RazorSharks

Wed.

Kentucky Bluegrass Stallions

Sat.

at Vermont Frost Heaves

Jan. 18

Quebec Kebs

Jan. 19

Halifax Rainmen

Jan. 22

at Quebec Kebs

Jan. 30

at Kentucky Bluegrass Stallions

Feb. 4

at Halifax Rainmen

Feb. 15

Lawton-Fort Sill Cavalry

Feb. 16

Saint John Mill Rats

Feb. 20

at Kentucky Bluegrass Stallions

Feb. 22

Vermont Frost Heaves

Feb. 24

at Lawton-Fort Sill Cavalry

Feb. 26

at Rochester RazorSharks

March 8

Kentucky Bluegrass Stallions

March 13

at Lawton-Fort Sill Cavalry

March 22

Rochester RazorSharks

March 23

Lawton-Fort Sill Cavalry

KETTERING — For Mark Anderson, the basketball has always been familiar.

The morning practices? Not as much.

“I’m not used to 8 o’clock,” Anderson, the former Dunbar High School and Sinclair Community College star, said Monday. “But that’s part of being a professional.”

Anderson is one of 11 players who will make his home debut as a member of the Dayton Air Strikers when the Premier Basketball League member hosts the Rochester RazorSharks at 7 p.m. today at Fairmont High School’s Trent Arena. He also has the longest area tenure as a member of Dunbar’s 2006 Division II state championship team and a two-year Sinclair starter.

Now, the 6-foot-7 Anderson is trying to restart a basketball career that stalled when his expected transfer from Sinclair to Miami University was nixed following the 2008-09 academic year. He spent last year living in Dayton and hoping for another basketball opportunity, which arrived in the first-year Air Strikers.

Anderson said he didn’t earn enough credits to earn his Sinclair degree in time to complete his transfer to Miami for basketball eligibility.

“A lot of things were going the wrong way,” Anderson said. “But now I look back, and maybe they were supposed to go like that.”

Now, he said, he’s learning how to be a professional, which means daily practices, travel and other requirements. The Air Strikers opened their season with a road win against Rochester (in Rochester, N.Y.) and a loss to the Saint John Mill Rats (in Saint John, New Brunswick, Canada) before playing in front of a home crowd.

“It seems like when I was at Sinclair, that’s what I was always thinking about, the NBA,” Anderson said. “But there are a lot of professional leagues out there. I’m just blessed to have basketball as a job.”

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