Richmond's Anderson Weaving a Web of Winning Basketball

This year the Atlantic 10 Conference is slated to have maybe 5 or 6 teams get at large bids into this year's NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament, more commonly known as "The Big Dance" or "March Madness". The Spiders of the University of Richmond are one of those teams, and Suwanee, GA native Kevin Anderson is a big reason why.

Anderson is one of many former high school student athletes from Gwinnett County, Georgia, about 25 miles northeast of Atlanta. The Peachtree Ridge High School product is leading the Richmond Spiders in scoring with 17.5 points per game and is an 82% free throw shooter. Earlier today, Anderson scored 17 points in a double overtime loss to Xavier at the Cintas Center in Cincinnati, where the Musketeers are 27-1 over the past two seasons. Anderson had 29 points leading the Spiders to a win against Xavier in their first meeting in Richmond. Richmond came into today's game against Xavier ranked #24 in the country having won back to back games against ranked opponents. That is the first time since the 1957-58 season the Spiders have won back to back games against ranked teams. Before today's loss to Xavier, Richmond was in a three way tie for first place in the Atlantic 10 with Xavier and Temple University. It is safe to say that Kevin Anderson is a major reason for Richmond's success.

Anderson, a junior, is already 13th on Richmond's all time scoring list with 1,419 points and 21 points away from 10th all-time. With three or four games possibly in the Atlantic 10 Tournament and possibly the NCAA Tournament, Anderson is bound to surpass that mark. With one more year remaining, Kevin Anderson has a very good chance of becoming Richmond's all-time leading scorer before his career as a Spider is over.. Here is a list of some of Kevin Anderson's accomplishments while at the University of Richmond:

During his Sophomore Year:

Named Second-Team Atlantic 10 All-Conference
Two-time Atlantic 10 Player of the Week
Became the fourth Spider sophomore to reach 800 points and finished the season with 930 points
Finished the season with 598 points, which ranks ninth on the school's single-season list
Anderson is one of two sophomores to make the single-season scoring list, along with all-time leading scorer Johnny Newman
Scored in double-figures in 34 of the 36 games and has scored in double-figures in 45 of his last 47 games going back to his freshman year

This year, his Junior year, Anderson is 5th in the Atlantic 10 in scoring with 17.5 PPG, 6th in Field Goal Percentage (46%), third in free throw percentage at 82%, second in steals with a total of 55 (2.0 per game), and third in the conference in minutes played at 36.7 per game.

Richmond is currently 22-7 overall and 11-3 in A-10 play and sitting in second place. They have wins over SEC opponents Mississippi St. and Florida and a win over Missouri, out of the Big Xll. Kevin Anderson, out of Suwanee, Ga in Gwinnett County and Peachtree Ridge High School, has a lot to do with the Spiders' success. It is amazing to me how Georgia and Georgia Tech missed on this young man, one of many young male and female student-athletes from the athletic-talent rich area of Gwinnett County, Georgia.