Courtside, Mr. A Gets His Due

The memory of the legendary New Haven coach Tom ​“Mr. A” Anastasio was channeled at halftime Tuesday night on the basketball court at Hill Regional Career High School. 

The varsity basketball game was dedicated to Anastasio, also known to students as ​“The Gee.” 

After coaching basketball throughout New Haven for decades, Anastasio died this past August at 74 years old. 

Anastasio’s older sister, Charlotte Anastasio, received a team gift and a citation at halftime from Hill Alder Ron Hurt Tuesday in honor of her brother. 

Career lost Tuesday night’s game against North Haven High 50 to 39, but the evening remained a time for celebration, of Mr. A’s legacy and all the love that he poured into New Haven. 

Mr. A was a math teacher and coach at several New Haven schools including Troup, Conte West Hills, and Roberto Clemente, as well as The Boys & Girls Club and the New Haven YMCA Youth Center. 

“He was a role model for every person,” Hurt said. 

During halftime dedication, Charlotte described her brother as tough, caring, and gentle. Current Career head basketball coach James Wright, a former player for Mr. A, organized the dedication game. Wright and Hill activist Howard Boyd spoke about how Mr. A helped to change and save their lives. 

Mr. A asked his sister to tell those that loved him about their father’s triumphs as an Italian immigrant. ​“He was tough like our dad,” Charlotte said of her brother. ​“We watched our father get turned away from buying land because he was an Italian immigrant, and that never left Tom.”

Despite not being a athlete himself, Mr. A was an avid Boston Celtics and New York Mets fan. His sister recalled him playing football in high school but hating it. He later broke his leg, which stopped him from playing sports in the future. 

“He’s something like that saying, ​‘Those who can, do; those who can’t, teach,’ ” she joked. 

Wright said he visited Mr. A before his passing on Aug. 26, 2021, and got his blessing to apply to be Career’s head coach.

Wright recalled being coached by Mr. A while in middle school in 1972. He described Mr. A’s style as ​“intense” and ​“real.” He would have his players practice for hours two to three times a day.

“How you saw me coach today, I got from him,” Wright said.

Mr. A would hold his players accountable beyond the court, Boyd said. ​“He made sure our education was right. That we had after schools jobs and summer jobs. He brought us up to be gentlemen.” 

He would also treat his students and players to wrestling matches, sporting events, and the circus in New Haven and Boston.

“He took his hard-earned teaching money and put it back into his students,” Boyd said. 

Mr. A would get his players the best matching uniforms and shoes. He also kept shoes in his math classroom and gave them to students in need. 

One February in 1979, Boyd recalled, Mr. A brought them to a basketball tournament in Nantucket. The team got stuck on the island due to an ice storm that required them to get rescued by the Coast Guard. 

Boyd was inspired by Mr. A’s ability to build strong relationships with the community. He would get his players into school gyms and cafeterias to practice in the evenings and obtain a meal from school staff before heading home. Some nights they were there until 11, Boyd said. 

“The chance of me going home most days and finding something to eat was slim to nothing,” Boyd said. ​“He established those relationships for us to get get food and practice.”

Mr. A would also host movie nights in his school auditorium, with popcorn and ice cream for all of his students, to help them stay out of trouble and off the streets. 

While in 7th and 8th grade, Boyd and teammates would face older high schoolers. 

“He brought us Black inner-city kids all over and demanded we got respect and carried ourselves like the gentlemen he showed us to be,” Boyd said.