Cliff Anderson played two years of varsity basketball at City College of New York under the tutelage of famed early professional basketball star, Nat Holman, who said that Anderson was the best big man he had ever coached.  Anderson, the team’s best defender and leading scorer was instrumental  in the success (22-3 record over two seasons) of the CCNY squad. Anderson had a meteoric pro basketball career. Within a few seasons as a pro, he ranked as one of the very best big men in the game. In an era when most centers seldom scored very much, Anderson stood out because he was usually the leading scorer on most of the teams he played for. Tall (6’04) by the standards of the era, Anderson elevated the ball over his head, away from shorter defenders, and and released his shot without bringing it down to his chest.  In 1926, after just three seasons of pro basketball, Anderson announced that he was retiring from the game, at age 23, to enter business. While Anderson did continue to play for a number years afterward on a limited basis, his focus definitely shifted away from the sport. Anderson had a long and successful association with the Kinney Shoe Corporation, eventually  becoming the company president in 1959. He also  served on the Board of Directors of F.W.Woolworth and the Coca Cola Bottling Company.

Hagan “Hook” Andersen was never among the top scorers or the flashiest players of his era, but he was nevertheless a star throughout his college and professional career. Andersen was a hard-working, team oriented performer whose selfless style always improved the play of his teammates. Howard Cann, the legendary coach of New York University , called Andersen the most fundamentally sound player he ever coached. In his senior year, Andersen was the linchpin of the Violets undefeated 1933-34 season. In the last game of the season, NYU played Nat Holman’s also undefeated City College of New York squad. Andersen played what coach Cann described as a “perfect game” to lead NYU to a 24-18 victory. He was named first-team All American. Anderson turned pro with the Jersey Reds in the 1934-35 season. He played on two championship teams during his pro career. Jersey won the 1937-38 American Basketball League championship and eight years later, he helped Baltimore capture the ABL title. After retiring as a player, Andersen began a second successful career in basketball as a longtime professional and college referee.