SCOTTSDALE (Ariz.) - He played basketball for the New York Knicks before the evolution of the three-pointer in the NBA.

He played with and against Wilt Chamberlain when the Boston Celtics were in the midst of coach Red Auerbach's dynasty with an unparalleled eight consecutive titles.

Monroe native Bob Anderegg played with the Knicks almost a half century ago and the basketball passion hasn't died. He relished his chance with the Knicks and later with the barnstorming American Basketball League.

"It was a tremendous thrill," Anderegg said. "It's something I never dreamed of could have happened and it did."

Now a storied basketball career reaches the pinnacle in the Cheese state. Anderegg, who led Monroe to a third-place finish at state in 1955 when there was just one division, will be inducted into the Wisconsin Basketball Coaches Association Hall of Fame as a player Oct. 18 at the Marriott Hotel in Middleton.

"I was quite shocked," Anderegg said. "I wasn't sure they even had something like that. It's overwhelming."

Anderegg was notified by a phone call last December about his WBCA Hall of Fame nomination.

"Initially, I thought someone was playing a prank on me," Anderegg said. "It was a nice Christmas gift."

Humble beginning

As the son of a cheesemaker, Anderegg didn't dream about playing professional basketball in the NBA. There were no summer traveling AAU teams. His first exposure to basketball came in school.

Anderegg was relied on to milk cows and bail hay.

"The biggest change today is the kids play year round," he said. "They are bigger, faster and have better training. There were no basketball camps. I would hate to think with the training these kids get now, how much that would have helped us."

In 1955, Anderegg led the Monroe Silver Streaks to a 16-1 record, 12-0 in the Badger Conference, with their only loss to Sterling (Ill), 61-56. Monroe, ranked second in the state with schools with an enrollment over 275, was at their best in the postseason, beating Milwaukee South, the state's No. 1 ranked team, which was previously unbeaten, for the sectional title.

"They (Milwaukee South) were calling us a bunch of farmers from Monroe," Anderegg said. "That gave us added incentive. Despite the fact that we were a smaller school, we could play with anybody."

Anderegg scored 1,401 points, including 707 as a senior. He led the state tournament in scoring in 1955.

Big stage

with Spartans

Anderegg went on to lead Michigan State to the school's first two Big Ten championships. Anderegg led MSU with 19.5 points per game in 1958-1959, earning second-team All-Big Ten honors. The 1956-57 Spartans won MSU's first Big Ten championship and advanced to the first of six Final Fours in school history.

"I just feel very blessed I was able to get a free ride and a scholarship to college," he said.

In 1959, Anderegg was honored with the Big Ten Medal of Honor, which was given to the top student athlete at each conference school.

"That was definitely a highlight in my life," he said.

Anderegg went through four years of ROTC training and was commissioned as a second lieutenant.

NBA chance

comes with Knicks

After playing in a college All-Star game with Chamberlain, Anderegg was drafted 22nd by the Knicks in the third round of the 1959 NBA Draft. Anderegg, who at 6-foot-3 played center in high school, forward in college, made the transition to guard with the Knicks. He played one year with the Knicks before the military came calling.

"I played taller than my height," he said. "Not all rebounds are caught above the rim. It's timing and positioning."

There were only eight teams and about 80 players in the NBA at the time. From 1960 to 1966, the Knicks fell on hard times, and they finished last in the NBA's Eastern Division each year. The Knicks finished 27-48, and the Celtics led by Bill Russell and Bob Cousy won their second straight NBA championship, which became renown as Auerbach's dynasty with eight consecutive titles.

Anderegg said the NBA was just starting to get games on TV.

In 33 games with the Knicks, Anderegg averaged 4 points and 2.1 rebounds.

"You could have made more working in industry and education than playing basketball," Anderegg said. "I felt I could have hung on and played a few more years, but I could get a job. I could always play rec ball."

A second chance

After his six-month stint of active duty in the Army, Anderegg wanted to revive his basketball career and he signed with the Hawaii Chiefs of the American Basketball League. Anderegg played one year with the Hawaii Chiefs before the cash-strapped ABL folded.

"I thought I will never have another opportunity to play professional basketball so I joined the league," Anderegg said.

The ABL was launched after a power struggle with NBA relocation. Bob Short moved his NBA franchise, the Minneapolis Lakers, to Los Angeles for the 1960-61 season. Abe Saperstein, owner of the Harlem Globetrotters whose team had performed as the opening game for NBA teams, felt that he had been promised the NBA franchise in Los Angeles, and, announced the formation of the rival league, the ABL.

The only lasting impressions made by the league came from two innovative rule changes including a three-point field goal, which would later be adopted by the American Basketball Association and the NBA, and a widened free throw lane (adopting the Olympic-sized key).

Anderegg said the ABL tried to lure the top basketball players by offering them more money.

"They drafted super players to get name recognition and paid a little more money," he said. "They didn't have the financing to make it."

When the ABL folded, Anderegg knew there was life after basketball.

"Then it was time to work for a living," he said.