Anthony Eugene Peeler (born November 25, 1969) is an American former professional

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

player, having played for a number of

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(NBA) teams from 1992 to 2005. He was most commonly known for his defense and athleticism. He later became an assistant coach at

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Virginia Union University Virginia Union University is a Private university, private Historically black colleges and universities, historically black university in Richmond, Virginia. History The American Baptist Home Mission Society (ABHMS) founded the school as Rich ...

High school and college

Peeler was a standout high school player at Paseo High School in

Kansas City, Missouri Kansas City, Missouri, abbreviated KC or KCMO, is the largest city in the U.S. state of Missouri by List of cities in Missouri, population and area. The city lies within Jackson County, Missouri, Jackson, Clay County, Missouri, Clay, and Pl ...

where he earned the title of Mr. Show-Me Basketball (the name for the state's Mr. Basketball, as Missouri is called the "Show Me State") and was named to the

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team his senior year, joining a class that included such names as

Alonzo Mourning Alonzo Harding Mourning Jr. (born February 8, 1970) is an American former professional basketball player who has served as vice president of player programs and development for the Miami Heat since June 2009. Mourning played most of his 15-year ...

Billy Owens Billy Eugene Owens (born May 1, 1969) is an American former professional basketball player who played for several teams in the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played college basketball for Syracuse, where he was an All-American and th ...

Shawn Kemp Shawn Travis Kemp Sr. (born November 26, 1969) is an American former professional basketball player who played for the Seattle SuperSonics, Cleveland Cavaliers, Portland Trail Blazers, and Orlando Magic in the National Basketball Association ( ...

, and

Malik Sealy Malik Sealy (February 1, 1970 – May 20, 2000) was an American professional basketball player, active from 1992 until his death in an automobile accident at the age of 30. Posthumously inducted into the NYC Basketball Hall of Fame in 2004, Sealy ...

to name a few. He took part in the 1988

McDonald's All-American Game The McDonald's All-American Game is an American all-star basketball game played each year for boys' and girls' high school basketball graduates. Consisting of the top players, each team plays a single exhibition game after the conclusion of the hi ...

. Peeler also participated in the 1988 Dapper Dan Classic and was named MVP of the West team. He reportedly planned on attending the defending national champion Kansas Jayhawk's men's basketball team, but changed his mind because he wasn't sure if Kansas coach Larry Brown would be leaving to coach elsewhere (Brown indeed left Kansas to coach the

NBA The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada). The NBA is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Ca ...

San Antonio Spurs The San Antonio Spurs are an American professional basketball team based in San Antonio. The Spurs compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Southwest Division (NBA), Southwest Division of the Western Conference (NBA ...

), and because he, in his words, "didn't want to be a one-man team." Peeler chose the

University of Missouri The University of Missouri (Mizzou or MU) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Columbia, Missouri, United States. It is Missouri's largest university and the flagship of the four-campus Univers ...

and went on to be one of the school's all-time greats. Anthony Peeler averaged 16.8 points per game for his Tiger career and left as Missouri's all-time third-leading scorer with 1,970 points, and the all-time leader in assists (497) and steals (196). During his career, he was named first-team All- Big Eight, and in 1992 (his senior year) he was named the conference AP Player of the Year and Male Athlete of the Year and a consensus second-team

All-America The All-America designation is an annual honor bestowed on outstanding athletes in the United States who are considered to be among the best athletes in their respective sport. Individuals receiving this distinction are typically added to an Al ...

n after averaging 23.4 points, 5.5 rebounds and 3.9 assists per game, and scored a career-high 43 points in a losing cause against arch-rival

Kansas Kansas ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to the west. Kansas is named a ...

. Missouri finished 21–9 that season and reached the second round of the NCAA tournament, where they lost to

Seton Hall Seton Hall University (SHU) is a Private university, private Catholic Church, Catholic research university in South Orange, New Jersey, United States. Founded in 1856 by then-Bishop James Roosevelt Bayley and named after his aunt, Saint Elizab ...

. In 2006, Peeler was named to the Missouri's 30-member All-Century team, in honor of the school's 100th year of competition.

Professional career

After his college eligibility was up, Peeler was drafted 15th overall by the

Los Angeles Lakers The Los Angeles Lakers are an American professional basketball team based in Los Angeles. The Lakers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Pacific Division (NBA), Pacific Division of the Western Conference (NBA ...

in the

1992 NBA draft The 1992 NBA draft took place on June 24, 1992, at Memorial Coliseum in Portland, Oregon. The draft is considered to be one of the deepest in NBA history. The top three picks (Shaquille O'Neal, Alonzo Mourning, Christian Laettner) were conside ...

. Peeler was one of the top

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s available and was considered a possible

NBA draft lottery The NBA draft lottery is an annual event held by the National Basketball Association (NBA), in which the teams who had missed the playoffs the previous year participate in a lottery process to determine the draft order in the NBA draft. The NBA d ...

pick by some analysts, Peeler was suspended for 2 games, which included a game 7 loss, which ended the Kings' season, and the season-opener of the Washington Wizards' 2004–05 campaign, with whom Peeler spent his final year.

After the NBA

Following retirement from playing, Peeler returned to college and finished his degree at

Richmond, Virginia Richmond ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the Commonwealth (U.S. state), U.S. commonwealth of Virginia. Incorporated in 1742, Richmond has been an independent city (United States), independent city since 1871. ...

. He entered the coaching profession in

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by serving as an assistant coach. He had expressed interest in joining the coaching staff of Frank Haith at

Missouri Missouri (''see #Etymology and pronunciation, pronunciation'') is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking List of U.S. states and territories by area, 21st in land area, it border ...

in 2011, but no job offer was forthcoming. He is currently awaiting other opportunities.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Peeler, Anthony 1969 births Living people 20th-century American sportsmen 20th-century African-American sportsmen 21st-century American sportsmen 21st-century African-American sportsmen All-American college men's basketball players American expatriate basketball people in Canada American men's basketball coaches American men's basketball players Basketball coaches from Missouri Basketball players from Kansas City, Missouri Los Angeles Lakers draft picks Los Angeles Lakers players McDonald's High School All-Americans Minnesota Timberwolves players Missouri Tigers men's basketball players Parade High School All-Americans (boys' basketball) Sacramento Kings players Shooting guards Vancouver Grizzlies players Virginia Union Panthers men's basketball coaches Washington Wizards players