Suttons Bay legends Todd Hursey and Dwaun Anderson were inducted into the inaugural Suttons Bay Athletics Hall of Fame class Friday before a game between the Norsemen and Lake Leelanau St. Mary.
Hursey and Anderson shined in golf and basketball during their tenures as Norsemen.
“This is something that I never even dreamed of as a kid or even during my time here,” Anderson said. “It’s a big deal for me as a basketball player and as an alumnus... This brings up all the memories and great times in the gym… we won many games here.”
Anderson cherishes the times with his teammates the most, along with dominating opponents. He led the Norsemen to the state championship game in 2010, finishing as the runner-up in Class C, their best finish in program history.
Anderson was a 6-4 190-pound shooting guard who captured the hearts and minds of the locals and the entire state from 2007-2010. The Norsemen may have lost 10-15 games since his freshman year on their way to a magical state runner-up finish. Anderson was the No. 3 recruit in Michigan and the No. 34 shooting guard in the nation.
He is the first and only Michigan Mr. Basketball to win the prestigious award north of Saginaw in 2011. He was also a three-time all-state athlete with plenty of features on ESPN’s Sportscenter Top-10 plays.
Anderson traveled with his wife Morgan and son from Schenectady, New York, to make the pregame ceremony. His cousin Jordan Anderson gave an emotional tribute to Dwaun during the ceremony.
Anderson says his son always jokes with him about not being the “goat,” otherwise known as the greatest of all time. Now, he might better understand what Anderson meant to the basketball community of northern Michigan. He hopes this motivates his son to be the best in whatever he does in life.
As a senior, Anderson averaged 20 points, 10 rebounds, four assists, three steals, and two blocks a game while dominating the competition until graduating in 2011. He was a four-year varsity starter who set school records in points with 1,503 and steals with 295.
“It was nice going back in the gym and seeing that big banner,” Anderson said.
The Norsemen lost to Melvindale ABT 59-43 at the Breslin Center in East Lansing 2010.
Suttons Bay entered the game with a 25-1 record and reached the state championship after beating Bridgman 52-38.
Anderson scored 16 points and 12 rebounds in the state championship game. It was Suttons Bay’s first appearance in the final four in 46 years.
Anderson was committed to the Michigan State Spartans and eventually had a career at Wagner College in New York from 2012-2016. During his senior season, he averaged 10 points and five rebounds. Anderson helped lead the Seahawks to the NIT basketball tournament.
His advice to future Suttons Bay basketball players is that “It’s all about hard work and staying dedicated while believing in yourself and having the confidence to go out there and perform the best you can. And remember to always have fun. That is always the biggest part,” he said.
Anderson was coached by Hursey and his uncle, Ron Anderson, who was an inspiring influence in his life. After a few years, when Dwaun moved to the area in 1999, he moved in with his aunt and uncle.
Hursey’s accomplishments Todd Hursey earned the Hall of Fame honor after teaching and coaching basketball and golf for the Norsemen across three decades of service.
Hursey thanks his friends, Kevin LaCross and Joe Trudeau, who talked him into interviewing at the local public school.
At most, Hursey thought staying for a couple of years would be good before moving on.
Eventually, he fell in love with the place, met his wife, Nicki, and had a family on the peninsula.
Hursey resonated with a Tom Izzo quote about being a coach: “I didn’t make a putt, I didn’t make a shot, but just to be along for the ride and give these athletes a little bit of guidance along the way, it’s been so special.”
Hursey won four state golf championships back-to-back in 2000 and 2001, as well as state titles in 2006 and 2015.
He now coaches for the Titans of TC West, which uses his home course, Bay Meadows. Hursey is also the head of the Traverse City Junior Golf Association.
Hursey recently retired as a teacher from Suttons Bay and admits that teaching and coaching are not jobs; they are lifestyles.
“I love every minute of it, and I wouldn’t want to be anywhere else,” he said.
Hursey remembers all those games coaching the Norsemen basketball team and the magical run the team went on in 2010.
Hursey remembers Anderson getting cornered by opposing team students for autographs and random people coming to the games saying they better play Anderson more because they traveled well over an hour to watch the early 2010s sensation.
“He is a once-in-a-lifetime talent that had everybody coming to watch and play,” Hursey said. “We had so many pieces to make a run, and we did, and Suttons Bay basketball at its finest, and I was thrilled to have the best seat in the house.”
Hursey was inducted into the Michigan Interscholastic Golf Coaches Association Hall of Fame 2018.
