Dyron Anderson playing for Belhaven.

Dyron Anderson is a story of perseverance.

Born and raised just outside of New Orleans, Anderson has overcome the odds of not playing on his high school varsity basketball team to becoming a collegiate player and now he has signed a pro contract.

His journey has led him to overcoming obstacles to enrolling in college to mentoring youths and now back to the basketball court.

Watching his students improve led him to giving hoops another try. That led to attending pro basketball tryouts.

Now he has signed to play in the Pro Basketball Association for BLTN (Better Late Than Never) franchise in the Dallas/Fort Worth area. His first game is scheduled for Sunday.

It was all because he never accepted “no.”

“Growing up, I was not the best of the best in basketball,” said Anderson, who was born and raised in Kenner, Louisiana. “I would go to the gym and not get picked to play and that’s where my competitive drive picked up. I was determined to get better and prove it to myself that I belonged with the best.”

That desire led Anderson to travel to “the hardest neighborhoods to get tougher and better.”

Not only did he improve his basketball skills, Anderson said, “I beat the streets of Kenner … The gun violence, drugs, etc.”

After his freshman year in high school, he did not get to play basketball.

“I didn’t make the required grades and never got to play,” Anderson said.

At the age of 24, he studied, was accepted and enrolled at Delgado Community College in New Orleans.

“I tried out for Delgado (Dolphins basketball team) three times in a row and on the fourth try I walked on and worked to get a full scholarship,” Anderson said.

He then transferred to Belhaven University and became a starter his sophomore and junior seasons for the Jackson, Mississippi school. He averaged 10.0 points per game for the Blazers.

For his senior year, he transferred to UT Tyler.

“I had a big year in mind, but dislocated my shoulder which led to the end of my college career,” Anderson said.

Although his collegiate eligibility expired, he still had the goal of graduating.

“I had to pay college tuition to graduate,” said Anderson, who earned his degree.

“After graduating, I started mentoring and coaching high school ball,” he said, two years at Grace Community School in Tyler and one year at The Brook Hill School in Bullard.

Anderson then opened up his own basketball school — Dog Pound Academy. Despite the COVID-19 pandemic, the academy thrived.

“I spoke about God, while teaching the youth to overcome obstacles while teaching New Orleans Style physical basketball, hard work, respect, getting an education, grit, determination, motivation, never to give up,” Anderson said

After training more than 200 players and sending nine players to college, Anderson continues training players.

But watching the youngsters grow gave Anderson an itch to play again.

The Ballers released a statement about the signing of Anderson, “The 6-0 guard from UT Tyler was explosive at the team tryouts held in Grand Prairie. Dyron displayed a toughness to sit down and defend at a high level. Then he was getting to the rim at will, either scoring or diming up teammates. Then came the jumpers and all with a winning mentality and grit that made his talent undeniable.”

Just because Anderson never accepted no.

TWITTER: @PhilHicksETFS