The gym at Stratford High will be named in honor of the school’s first boys basketball coach Charlie Anderson.
The gymnasium at Stratford will be named in honor of the Spartans’ first boys basketball coach Charlie Anderson.
Anderson, 81 accumulated 1,080 total victories on the high school and junior college levels in his 53-year career.
He is in the TSSAA Hall of Fame and the National Junior College Basketball Coaches Association Hall of Fame.
Anderson was supposed to be surprised by the announcement at the Spartans game last Tuesday against East Nashville, but the game was canceled due to inclement weather.
A ceremony now is expected to take place next season, according to Stratford Coach Romie Reed.
Anderson, a Cohn High and Middle Tennessee State graduate, began his coaching career at old Central High in 1959 and in 1961 took over at Stratford. He led the Spartans to the state tournament in 1966, 1967, 1968 and 1969.
He then moved to Bellevue where he led the Owls to the state tournament in 1976, 1978, 1979 and 1980 – the final year the school was open.
In 1981, Anderson was offered the women’s coaching position at Vanderbilt, but he turned it down because he was one year from being eligible to retire from Metro.
He coached the girls team at Hillsboro in 1981.
He also served as an assistant football coach and coached baseball, softball and tennis.
In 1982, Anderson was hired as the men’s coach at Aquinas, where he spent 20 years and led the school to the 1991 national junior college championship.
Anderson finished his career at Nashville Christian were he coached through the 2014 season. His record as a high school basketball coach was 409-132.
Reach Mike Organ at 615-259-8021 or on Twitter @MikeOrganWriter.