Official Site of the Midwest Conference

Jack Ankerson '64 is one of the most versatile athletes in Ripon College history, earning All-American honors in two different sports and winning a conference championship in a third. He earned varsity letters in all three sports (football, basketball, and tennis), and still ranks among the school's top scorers in both football and basketball, 57 years after his graduation. Ankerson was a part of Ripon's second Athletics Hall of Fame class in 1981.

Ankerson was a key reason the Redmen won conference championships in all three of his sports during his senior season. Ripon's football team went 8-0 that year (1963), marking the last undefeated season in program history. As the team's quarterback and kicker, Ankerson set a single season school record with 145 points, which still stands today. He followed that up as the second-leading scorer (414 points) on Ripon's basketball team, which won their second of three consecutive Midwest Conference Championships. Ankerson completed the trifecta that spring, helping Ripon's men's tennis program win their first of 19 MWC team championships.

On the gridiron, Ankerson earned First Team All-American and All-Conference honors in 1963, which marked his second consecutive First Team All-Conference selection. Currently Ripon's third-leading scorer in program history with 254 career points, Ankerson led the MWC in both scoring and total yardage in each of those seasons.

Not to be outdone on the hardwood, Ankerson duplicated his All-American status on the basketball court during his senior season, while also receiving First Team All-Conference honors for the second consecutive year. Ankerson finished his career ranking third in school history for points (1,001), which still ranks 32nd in the 122-year history of the program.

Ankerson earned All-Conference honors on the tennis court as well, where he won the individual conference championship at number three singles as a sophomore in 1962.

After graduation, Ankerson became the 12th and last Ripon College player to be drafted and/or play in the National Football League. He is the fourth Ripon player drafted into the NFL, selected 220th overall in the 16th round by the St. Louis Cardinals.

That was just the beginning for Ankerson in professional sports. After a brief career with the Cardinals, Ankerson worked in the front office of the Kentucky Colonels of the American Basketball Association (ABA), before being hired as general manager of the San Antonio Spurs, where he was named ABA Executive of the Year by The Sporting News in 1974. He also was General Manager for the ABA's Virginia Squires, where he served as Head Coach for two games in 1976, compiling a 1-1 career coaching record.

At 78 years old, Ankerson still uses those core values today, which he learned at Ripon College. He worked for several years as a sports and program director at WTAR radio in Norfolk, Va., before joining the Norfolk Tides, Triple-A affiliate of the New York Mets and later the Baltimore Orioles, as the team's director of broadcasting and sales and later as their public address announcer. In addition to his work with the Tides, Ankerson also is the "Voice of the Monarchs" as the P.A. announcer for NCAA Division-I Old Dominion University's football, baseball, and men's and women's basketball teams.