Anthony Ianni faced many challenges growing up.
By the time he was 11 years of age he was six feet tall and wore a size-13 shoe. Consider that he was also autistic and, well, he was a big and easy target for schoolmates, neighborhood kids and whoever else thought it would be fun to harass and razz somebody that was “different.”
“All the time,” Ianni said of the frequency in having to deal with his tormentors. “I was bullied from my kindergarten days until I was a freshman in high school. A lot of it was because of my autism, because I would say and do things differently than everybody else. I was bullied in middle school because I was the biggest kid around.”
At age four Ianni was diagnosed with pervasive development disorder, which is on the autism spectrum. Specialists told his parents there was little if any chance their son would succeed in school. A basketball player at a Big Ten program? Good luck getting into college.
His disorder was characterized by difficulties in deciphering aspects of language such as nouns, verbs, idioms, sarcasm and jokes. He often could not understand if people were being serious or were kidding, which resulted in occasional outbursts of frustration.
“I had a really tough time understanding a lot of those things, especially the sarcasm and jokes,” said Ianni, who was a center for two seasons at Grand Valley State and two seasons at Michigan State. “I still have a lot of those same struggles to this day, but I have learned to cope with the fact that I am going to have those struggles for the rest of my life and I am okay with that.”
For the past six years, and through his Relentless Tour campaign, Ianni, an employee of the Michigan Department of Civil Rights, has been traveling the country speaking out against bullying and educating people about autism. His audience is generally upper elementary school through high school, though he also speaks at colleges and universities, including engaging in leadership discussions with athletic teams.
“I love what I do and I have such great passion for what I do,” said the husband of Kelly and father of two boys, four-year old Knox and one-year-old Nash.
The Iannis have always had great passion for athletics. Anthony’s father, Greg, was an All-Big Ten baseball player at MSU and recently retired following a quarter-century of service in the school’s athletic department, most recently as deputy athletic director.
His mother, Jamie, played three sports at Adrian (Mich.) College and his sister, Allison, played volleyball at Pacific and Michigan State.
Attending sporting events as a youngster, though, could be problematic. That was especially so with football games at Spartan Stadium and basketball games at the Breslin Center. Noise, such as buzzers signifying timeouts and whatever was blaring from arena and stadium speakers could be overbearing. Such noise sensitivity is common among autistic individuals.
“It was like it was too much of an overload for me,” he recalled. “I would put my head in my mom’s lap the whole game because I could not take it.”
Ianni would eventually adapt by placing his hands over his ears when he knew it would get loud. Instead of keeping his hands over his ears until the noise subsided, he would slowly remove them so that he could grow accustomed to the noise. Through repeatedly doing this at sporting events his discomfort subsided when exposed such acoustic stimulation.
“I created ways to control the sounds that I was exposed to,” he noted.
There were no such ways to lessen the frequency of the harassment he had to put up with at school. Thanks to those who loved him and cared enough to look after him, Ianni was able to make it through elementary school and middle school.
“Those first nine years I was in school were miserable,” he said. “There were days I went home questioning whether or not I wanted to go back to school the next day. Luckily, I had a great support system to back me up every day. Whether it was family, friends or teachers, they had my back every day.”
Basketball was an outlet, one that allowed Ianni to escape the daily torment. Starting with his sophomore year of high school more and more people began to realize how good he was. Suddenly, Ianni didn’t stand out because of his developmental disorder.
“It was really tough growing up, but that’s where basketball came into play,” he said. “The harder I worked in the classroom and on the court, the more results I got as far as school and basketball. That’s when people started to notice and I kind of earned everybody’s respect.”
Ianni’s diligence on the court, which resulted in earning all-league and all-area honors at Okemos High, which is a couple miles from East Lansing, and in the classroom served as a springboard to college. At first, and at the urging of Michigan State coach Tom Izzo, Ianni attended Division-II Grand Valley State in Allendale, Mich.
His desire was to walk on at MSU. Izzo, long a family friend, suggested he should not turn down the full ride GVSU was offering. So, it was off to GVSU where Ianni spent the first two years of his collegiate career.
While Ianni was appreciative of the overall experience at the school, which he said has outstanding resources for those on the autism spectrum, he felt the coaching staff could have been better understanding of his situation. When the assistant coach who recruited him and grew close to him left for another opportunity, Ianni thought it was time to move on as well. He did so with no hard feelings.
“To this day I am thankful for the opportunity Grand Valley State gave me,” he said. “I made a great number of relationships that I maintain to this day. Allendale will always have a special place in my heart.”
Ianni’s dream was to put on a Michigan State Spartans’ jersey, which he did when he walked on with Izzo’s program.
After sitting out the 2009-10 season as a transfer, Ianni got into 27 games in his two seasons as an active player.
“Coach Izzo and his staff had a really good idea of what they were working with,” said Ianni, who has a degree in sociology from MSU. “His staff knew about me, but they had to adapt a little bit to helping me with some of the strategies and plays. The coaches were very accepting.”
Ianni, who also speaks highly of the support system and resources at Michigan State, said that based on research he and a couple of staff members within the Spartans’ athletic department undertook, the thinking was that he was the first Division-I basketball player known to be on the autism spectrum.
“We all thought that was pretty cool,” he said. “When the news got out about me and my situation at Michigan State, it was something that gave people a lot of hope. I know not everybody on the spectrum will have the same successes as me, but what happened to me can be a goal of many parents who have kids on the spectrum.”
Kalin Bennett, a Kent State basketball recruit, is the first autistic individual to sign a national letter of intent. The Arkansas native signed with the Golden Flashes last November.
“I’ve always wondered when and where (an autistic individual with a Division I basketball program) was going to happen again and to see it has finally happened puts a smile on my face,” said Ianni. “I’ve reached out to Kalin and his mom to let them know I’m in their corner and if they need anything from me that I am here for them. I look forward to watching him during his four-year career at Kent State.”
Ianni blended in nicely with the Spartans. He did not tell anybody about his autism during his first couple of years in East Lansing. Two of his teammates, one from high school and one from the travel circuit, were aware he was on the spectrum, so it was not a big deal. Furthermore, as he grew older it became more difficult for the average person to detect his struggles.
There were awkward moments, though. Ianni recalls a specific instance in which a misunderstanding with teammate and current Golden State Warriors’ forward Draymond Green led to a flareup.
“He was joking in the weight room with us one time, about having to do an extra workout, and I fell for it,” he said. “I did the extra workout during (the lifting session) and the whole team was laughing about it. I threw a fit. I had one of my outbursts.”
The team’s strength and conditioning coach, Mike Vorkapich, stepped in to calm things. Vorkapich told Green that Ianni was autistic and may not understand if somebody is speaking in literal terms or not.
Green apologized the next day and told Ianni how impressed he was with how far he had come.
“That day changed our relationship,” said Ianni. “I earned his respect not just as a teammate, but more importantly, as a friend and vice versa.”
Earning respect is something Ianni does on a daily basis while doing his part to enhance the general public’s awareness of autism. Those on the spectrum have the same dreams, desires and goals as anybody else. That is the message Ianni repeatedly delivers.
“You can do extraordinary things,” he said. “Autism doesn’t define who you are. You define who you are.”
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