Third annual Kenny Anderson Showcase reaches new heights

TWINSBURG, Ohio– Back on May 29, 67 student-athletes gathered at The Edge Sports & Arts Academy in Twinsburg, Ohio for a chance to compete for a scholarship. Players from 12 different states met for the third annual Kenny Anderson Showcase where they showcased their skills in front of Division III, NAIA and Junior College coaches.

Ian Cunningham– the co-founder and coordinator of the free basketball showcase– wants to make a difference. His vision is to help out as many athletes who may be underlooked and give them a shot to compete. Compete for a chance to play beyond high school.

That’s been the goal all along for Cunningham, who decided to open up and allow kids from all across the country to take part in the showcase starting from year one. As a result, it’s led to a copious amount of scholarships all throughout the country.

“It’s a feeling that gives me goosebumps, to think that it started from a vision to give back to the Northeast Ohio minority youth,” Cunningham said. “So every time I think that there are kids that want to come to something like this it’s a feeling like no other, you get goosebumps.”

At the showcase, the athletes are put through a series of skills and drills led by Rollie Smith and Tom Parker Jr.– head trainers at Push Thru Athletics based in Cleveland. From there, the 67 players were divided into eight teams, each playing a total of four games throughout the day.

Mixed within the games were a series of motivational speeches from former NBA players like Kenny Anderson and William Henry “Smush” Parker. Following the speeches was the dunk contest, something Cunningham plans to get rid of next year as he wants all participants of the showcase to be involved throughout the day, he explained.

Chaze Harris– an unsigned guard who finished his playing career at Bedford this past season– was crowned the dunk contest champion at the end of the event. Players like Rodney Williams from Cleveland Heights, Kyle Shockley from Waterloo and Keith Rivers from Walsh Jesuit also came away with some hardware. Those players won the Mr. Hustle Award, MVP trophy and the Defensive Stopper Award, respectively.

More people than ever before were able to watch the showcase this year thanks to a live stream put together by Flux Live Stream and BehindTheBallers. More than 60 college coaches across the country from different levels were able to tune in live to watch, with 20 coaches in attendance as well.

Ryan Miley– the head coach at Hocking College– has attended the showcase the last couple of years. With the help of Cunningham, he’s been able to recruit a handful of players to play for his team. It’s an event that has Miley excited to attend each year with new expectations along the way.

“The Kenny Anderson Showcase is something that I look forward to attending throughout the year as I get to reconnect with different coaching friends and check out top-level talent,” Miley said. “Definitely my favorite showcase or event that I attend each year and it has helped our program reach a higher level of success on and off the court.”

In fact, Miley is going to add a familiar face to his coaching staff this season. Jamil Santiel – the former head basketball coach at Yellowstone Christian College in Billings, Mont.–will be an assistant coach at Hocking College, something that started with conversations from the showcase.

There was an opening position as an assistant coach at Hocking College, something Cunningham and Miley talked about extensively. That led to conversations with Santiel and from there, it didn’t take long for him to secure the open position after applying all because of the showcase.

“I have really enjoyed the showcase over the past few years and it has benefited our program tremendously,” Miley added. “We have recruited a handful of high caliber student-athletes and my new assistant coach, Jamil Santiel, was introduced to me by Ian Cunningham at the showcase.”

“He’s driving his car from California to Hocking College and that’s strictly because of the connections he and I and coach Miley have made from the showcase,” Cunningham chuckled. “To have a guy come from California to work on a coaching staff at Hocking College in Ohio, it almost gets me to tears.”

In addition, seven players from the showcase have already signed a deal to play college basketball. It’s something that puts a smile on  Cunningham’s face.

“It’s called the big showcase for the small schools but it’s not just NAIA, Division III, UNCAA or Junior College, you actually have Division I college coaches talking to me about these kids,” he explained. “So It’s wide open. It’s not geared towards Division I but having it live-streamed is invaluable.”

In 2019, the Kenny Anderson Showcase brought together 38 athletes. Two years later, the showcase hosted 67 players with more than 150 nominations. Cunningham and Anderson are working together to bring even more exposure to the kids.

In fact, Cunningham has mentioned a second showcase held in Tennesee, near the campus of Fisk University where Kenny Anderson coaches. Another option is to have it be a two-day event in Twinsburg due to the large number of players that weren’t able to make the cut for this year’s showcase.

It would be an event that’ll highlight all athletes without having to turn down any nominations in the future.

“I’d like to do a two-day event where I’d have 72 kids on one day and then a whole new set of 72 the second day so that you’re having 144 kids for college coaches to look at so that would really turn into the premier showcase,” Cunningham said. “That’s my end goal.

“Another huge goal that I have is I want to be able to offer a Kenny Anderson Showcase scholarship,” he added. “What I’m going to really start trying to do is to build up enough funds where after the showcase is over I can physically give scholarship money from the showcase to a kid to attend a school to help them pay for college.”

To have high school and junior college players travel across the country for this event is something Cunningham doesn’t take for granted. He never thought his vision would reach these heights and because of that, he’s grateful to be in a position working alongside his family to make a difference.

“Every time I think that there are kids that want to come to something like this, it’s a feeling like no other, you get goosebumps,” he said. “I don’t do it for any other reason but to try to give back.”