Rock Island Today

Former Moline High School standout Anthony Lindauer has emerged as a top-flight player for the High Point University (HPU) basketball team this season in North Carolina. 

The 6-foot-3 junior guard is averaging 8.3 points and 25 minutes played per game. With a 10-5 Big South record, the Panthers are in the thick of the race for the conference title trailing University of North Carolina-Asheville and Winthrop by one game. HPU has an overall record of 17-9.

In his senior year at Moline, Lindauer averaged 22.4 points, leading the squad to the Class 4A regional championship. He is also the team’s all-time leading three-point shooter.

Lindauer, though, has come to the realization that his basketball career won’t last forever. He concedes that early in his career he let basketball, friends and social activities interfere with his development as a student. But that has all changed. 

“At the end of the day, the basketball stops bouncing for everybody, so you have to fall back on something and that [something] is education," he recently told Rock Island Today. “I like the school aspect [at HPU]... . You come to class every day and there’s a teacher there waiting to make you a better student and a better learner and prepare you for the real world, I couldn’t be any happier than to be where I’m at."

Lindauer credits many people for helping him get to where he is today.

“My biggest role models were my family members, guys like my older brother who had a successful career in high school, and my mom and dad always telling me stories about (their college careers)," he said. "My relationship with my parents developed largely by learning life’s lessons through the game of basketball."

Lindauer’s father played basketball and baseball at Murray State, and his mother played softball at South Carolina.

Right now, Lindauer’s biggest influence is HPU Head Coach Scott Cherry. 

“He encourages you to be better off the floor as much as (he) does on the floor,"Lindauer said. "I didn’t really have the perspective that I have today when I first got here. He’s opened eyes a lot -- in a positive way. He’s pretty consistent with his approach to things. He reminds me of my dad with the things he says and does."

When he is not hitting the books or playing basketball, Lindauer likes to play online video games, especially Call of Duty, with his friends. He also loves Happy Joe’s pizza with barbecue chicken and bacon, and he likes to play golf. His favorite music is hip-hop, and his favorite artist is J. Cole.

 “He’s not your basic rapper talking about the negative stuff; he is more a guy who teaches through his life experiences," Lindauer said. "It’s easy to relate to him because (he's) been through some of same things I’ve been through."

Lindauer says his ultimate goals are to buy his mother a house, and to make his parents, his grandparents and the rest of his family proud. 

“When the game ends for me, I still want them to be proud of me...," he said.