KNOXVILLE — Three area basketball coaches with University of Tennessee ties are sharing the game that they love with local high school student-athletes.
All three have been in the Knoxville Area’s prep sports scene for quite some time.
Two are Tennessee natives and one, who hails from the Midwest, stayed in Big Orange Country after his playing career on Rocky Top was over.
Anthony Anderson, Aaron Green and Jon Higgins are now teachers and coaches in East Tennessee.
Anderson, who played football for the Vols, is now the girls basketball coach at Austin-East High School.
He has coached the Lady Roadrunners since 2017. Anderson was in UT’s football program for five years and appeared in 39 games. He played mostly on special teams.
The 2007 Austin-East graduate, played football and basketball for the Roadrunners.
His roots with the school and East Knoxville Community run deep. At Austin-East, he replaced former Lady Vol Gwen Jackson.
Green, now the head boys coach at Oak Ridge High School, played basketball for the Volunteers from 1995-99 and later returned to Tennessee to work for Bruce Pearl as a graduate manager, video coordinator and information specialist.
He was also head coach at Cleveland High School in Tennessee from 2000-07.
Higgins, who once hit a half-court shot to help the Vols beat Georgia Tech, in Atlanta, is currently the boys basketball coach and head golf coach at Farragut High School.
He has been with the Admirals hoopsters since 2017 and has been the head golf coach since 2019.
Prior to going to Farragut, Higgins was the head coach at Knoxville Central High School, coaching the Bobcats for five seasons.
The native of Shaker Heights, Ohio, began coaching in Knoxville as an assistant under the legendary Jody Wright at Fulton High School.