Anthony Linder started out high school taller than most of his classmates, and they still haven’t caught up.
As a freshman, Linder said he was “about six foot on a good day.” As a freshman he grew two inches, added two more inches as a sophomore and now stands at 6-foot-7, 240 pounds as a senior center on the Robbinsville High boys’ basketball team.
During those early years at RHS, Linder played basketball, but he was a follower.
“He’s one of those kids who, starting out freshman sophomore year, was a little shy,” coach Kyle Flanagan said. “Over his junior and senior years, you’ve seen him not only mature as a basketball player but as an individual and really take on that role of being a big supporter of everybody.”
Linder began playing basketball in the third grade for the Our Lady of Sorrows CYO team in Hamilton. He played in several other recreational and travel leagues and finally got involved in AAU ball during the summer of his sophomore year when he played for Next Level.
He quickly made it a point to get the Ravens involved, as basketball has been one of the few sports that has yet to achieve success at RHS. Part of the problem has been that most athletes only played the sport with the high school team and nowhere else, but Linder has been a driving force in getting his teammates to play AAU basketball year-round.
“Our coaches have been telling us that the more we play together, the better it will help us during the season,” Linder said. “We all play together well and have so much respect and knowledge for each other and our personnel, to the point where we all are open to playing in the off-season with each other and learning what we have to do to bring it to the season.”
He feels the participation will continue when he’s gone next year.
“We have a strong amount of lower classmen involved, including juniors Tino Gonzalez, Paul Pietrini and sophomore Lucas Olshevski,” Linder said. “I believe that these guys along with others will help keep the trend going strong.”
Linder’s high school basketball career began on the freshman team. He played on JV as a sophomore but got moved up to varsity midway through his sophomore year and has been there ever since. He, Gonzalez and Eric Lorenzo were all averaging over 10 points in the Ravens 3-8 start, which included Linder making a last-second buzzer beater putback in an overtime win at Steinert on Jan. 6.
“Oh man, that was a crazy and hectic game,” he said. “Not only our team, but Steinert played a great game. That has been the best basketball game I’ve ever been a part of. The ending was unreal.”
After taking an inbounds pass, Lorenzo did not think there was enough time for a better shot and heaved one from halfcourt that came off the left of the rim. While everyone else watched the ball come off, Linder grabbed the rebound and laid it in.
“Every game I follow the ball and try and shoot before the buzzer goes off because that’s just a habit or an instinct that I tend to do whether for fun or when it’s a serious matter,” he said. “I just had the instinct to go and get the rebound, and I didn’t see anyone go after it. I got the ball and finger rolled it just in time.”
Linder’s value goes well beyond last-second heroics. In fact, it goes beyond what happens on the court. He always supports his teammates no matter their status on the team, and he never hesistates to give someone a ride home from practice.
“It’s been refreshing to see him mature and grow over the years,” Flanagan said. “He’s a great kid, he’s hard working, he’s never a bother. You don’t have to worry what’s going on with him in the classroom and all that stuff. And he’s always getting that team camaraderie going.”
Not surprisingly, Linder constantly gives his all on the court. He plays in the post and Flanagan said most of the Ravens offensive sets run through him on the block. Linder is also barking out orders on defense, making sure everyone is in the right place.
“He’s the ideal teammate,” Flanagan said. “He played down low even as a freshman and sophomore, but he kind of had a little baby fat that he struggled with. He struggled with the conditioning and what it took to make him effective in the post. As he grew he started to stretch out but didn’t have the muscle to hold himself together against the better post players.”
That changed once he placed a bigger emphasis on weight lifting as a member of the spring track team last spring. Flanagan said his legs, core and shoulders are all stronger, and he’s leaner overall.
Like most players in their mid-teens, Linder struggled with his rapid growth, as it was difficult for his coordination to keep up with his increasing length.
“It was tough my sophomore year and beginning of my junior year, having to learn my size and how to use it, whether on or off the court,” he said. “Even to this day I have a tough time believing that I’m this big and tall.”
Linder, who is still in the process of looking into colleges next year, agreed with his coach that spring track made a big difference.
“I worked on the specific areas I need to get stronger as a basketball player, such as shoulders, arms, legs,” he said. “I thank coach Flanagan and coach (Connor) Tierney for encouraging me and getting me to participate in track and field.”
When he’s not playing basketball, Linder is part of the school’s Project Unify Club, which is designed to unify the high school, middle school and elementary school students with or without disabilities so they can all participate in things together. He also volunteers tirelessly with the Special Olympics.
“He’s been a huge help,” Flanagan said. “He’ll volunteer when they have unified games for Special Olympics. We’ve hosted a few clinics where they’ll come and do drills and games and he’s usually a big part of getting all that organized and leading our team and getting them active with the organizations.”
Linder developed that passion during his sophomore year after his good friend, Anthony Massi, took him to an after-school meeting one day.
“That’s when it all clicked that I wanted to stay in this program,” he said. “That got me interested in taking this role of becoming a leader, because of the positive change it makes. I feel it’s important to keep this trend of being active in the Special Olympics because it helps unify everyone together and makes every kid happy.”
The Ravens, he said, are always eager to help. Linder noted that teammates Matt DeAngelis and Tino Gonzalez are a huge assistance in coming up with ideas. At a recent practice, the three of them got the entire team to sign basketballs that they gave to Robbinsville’s Project Unify Group to hold on to.
“It is always a great time putting smiles on the faces of the kids that deserve it the most,” he said. “Ms. (Marybeth) Kowalski does a great job with this program.”
By all accounts, it sounds like Linder does a pretty good job himself.
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