Editor’s Note: We’ve asked a few select athletes (previously SaraMae Hollandsworth and Nate Boyer) who we’ve featured on Purpose2Play to write about who inspires them. Up next is Anthony Ianni, a former Michigan State basketball player who also falls on the autism spectrum. Our feature story on him was published in March of 2015. Without further ado, here’s Anthony Ianni. 

 

For those of you who don’t know my life story, I was diagnosed with Pervasive Developmental Disorder (PDD-NOS) when I was four years old. PDD-NOS falls on the autism spectrum.

At five years old, a group of doctors and professionals told my parents what my future would likely look like. They said I would barley graduate from high school, never going to college or be an athlete, and eventually, I would be placed into a group home with other kids like myself.

I wasn’t told this story by my parents until my freshman year at Okemos High School and from then on, those beliefs and the other doubters in life motivated me to go above and beyond to prove people wrong.

Anthony with his parents. Photo c/o of Anthony Ianni

I went on to graduate from Okemos in 2007, and then went to Grand Valley State on a full-ride scholarship for basketball. After two years of things not working out for me at Grand Valley State, I went on to fulfill my lifelong dream of playing for Coach Tom Izzo and the Michigan State Spartans, where I was a part of two Big Ten title teams, a Big Ten Tournament title and appeared at the 2010 Final Four in Indianapolis.

Not only was I on scholarship at MSU, but I also made NCAA history by becoming the first division I basketball player with an autism diagnosis.

Throughout my childhood, I had a lot of heroes and inspirations. These include athletes and great teachers in Okemos Public Schools who helped me get to where I am in my life today.

From a basketball standpoint, Allen Iverson and Michael Jordan were my basketball idols. I loved the way they played the game and just how tough and competitive they were during their careers.

Growing up, my inspirations and heroes were always changing because I loved that people are not one-dimensional and are capable of achieving success in different areas of life.

For example, Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson is another person who I idolize. He’s a guy who went from being the greatest WWE wrestler to becoming the world’s highest paid actor, and along the way, really showed me how hard work pays off.

As a motivational speaker, I try to stay on that level from a working perspective, inspiring as many people as I can.

But, there’s only one true inspiration in my life aside my two-year-old son, Knox. This person is someone I have looked up to since day one. This person, who with the help of my mom, pushed me to the limit every day and encouraged me to be great at everything I did. Whether it was basketball, school or just being a great all-around person, this man taught me to give my all in everything that I did. And, that person is my father, Greg Ianni.

Photo c/o Anthony Ianni

My father is the deputy athletic director at Michigan State and has worked in NCAA athletics for over 30 years. He started his career at the University of Virginia, then went on to work at Ohio University before finally landing at his alma mater in East Lansing.

Because of the nature of his work, my dad and I have done things together every kid dreams of from taking Bowl trips to attending Final Four tournaments to meeting amazing MSU athletes. But, those were the little things.

What some people don’t know is how hard he and my mom worked to help turn a seemingly dark  future for me into something people never saw coming.

After what those doctors and professionals said about me when I was five years old, my mother was in tears and my father, like the strong person that he is, stood up from his chair and told those doctors, “I respect what you do, but I don’t respect what you just told me and my wife. I’m telling you now our son WILL graduate from high school and somehow, he WILL go to college and graduate. If he becomes an athlete in the process, great but that’s up to the man upstairs if he wants to bless our son with those gifts.”

My dad tells people he thought those doctors believed he was crazy for saying that stuff, but it turns out, he wasn’t at all.

My parents always had high expectations for me. My dad always taught me “The harder you work, the more you’ll earn,” and this is something that has stuck with me to this day.

Knowing what my dad has done for MSU the last 20+ years, from the new baseball/softball facilities, Spartan Stadium expansion projects on the North, West and South ends of the stadium and the renovation of the Breslin Center, he has overseen so much at MSU and has helped put the school among the elite in college athletics.

Photo c/o Anthony Ianni

Because of what my dad has done and continues to do at MSU, he has taught me to work just as hard as he does every day. He has always said that if you block out the noise around you, keep your mouth shut and let your work do the talking for you, you will be a great success. And, that’s  exactly what my Dad has done in his life. He may not get a lot of the credit for the amazing changes MSU athletics has seen, but as his son, I’m always trying to keep the ‘Ianni’ last name strong and well-known forever.

I’m so blessed and grateful to have a great family and father in my life. I’m even more thankful, though, to have such a great inspiration and motivator in my life.

Words can’t express how much I look up to my father every day and how big of an impact his wisdom has made in my life.

What I’ve learned from him, I plan on passing down to my son. And, one day, when my son asks me who taught me so much in life and who I look up too?  I’m proudly going to tell him that it was his grandfather — the man who made me, me.