February 11, 2022 – Indianapolis, IN
On Sunday, February 6th, 2022, Anthony Kaminski from Grace Christian University was selected in the second round of the TBL Draft. He selected 15th in the second round by the Tri-State Admirals, a team that has time under their belt in the TBL but now has a new TMO. That TMO is Daniel Jacob known as “Coach D”. Coach D Joins an already established ownership group but he will also take on the role of head coach in hopes to lead the team to a deep playoff run. After already selecting Kurt Ogbewele in the first round, Coach D was looking for a shooter that could add to an offense that is already looking to be high-powered. “Anthony was by far the best sniper in the gym. Plus, there are parts of his game I saw that he wasn’t showing” was what Coach D had to say after selecting Anthony in the draft. This statement from Coach D speaks a lot on Kaminski’s young career as he is more of player than what would be seen on the stat sheet.
Anthony Kaminski played his freshman season for Great Lakes Christian College in Lansing MI. It would be in a game against Grace Christian University, then Grace Bible College, that Anthony would discover his next and final college home. In that game against Grace, Anthony would score 28 points and he would catch the eye of the legendary Grace Christian head coach Gary Bailey. Anthony Kaminski would then transfer to Grace and would play there through the 2019-20 season. In his final season with the Grace Tigers, Anthony would only average 3.2 points per game. One may look at these stats and wave Kaminski off as a “bench warmer”, Coach Bailey knew he had much more of player than that. Coach Bailey traditionally runs with a pretty stacked squad every year and many of his bench players could be starters at another school but still come to Grace because Coach Bailey is in the “ring chasing business”, as some would say. Kaminski would in fact get his ring after Grace Christian University won the NCCAA DII National Championship in 2019.
Fast forwarding to the November of 2020, Anthony was playing a pick up game in his hometown when he ruptured his Achilles tendon. “I knew exactly what it was right when it happened because I remembered when it happened to Kobe.” says Kaminski. Kaminski would enter a valley his life struggling to cope with his injury among the COVID-19 pandemic. Kaminski says that even through this struggling time that, “God said keep going going” and that is exactly what he would do. While his Achilles healed, Kaminski would would on upper body doing pull-ups and even doing push-ups on his knees with a cast on. Through this trial and his entire life, Kaminski points to God. “If it wasn’t for Jesus Christ I wouldn’t be playing. He’s my everything.. He gave me the skill to glorify Him in all i do. So, I want to be that light for the team and someone that can uplift my teammates when there going through a rough time.
Now, Kaminski face his next test which is making the final roster. Knowing that Coach D spent a draft pick to get Kaminksi, it is very likely Kaminksi will make the team due to what Kaminski brings to the table. As earlier mentioned in the article, Coach D took notice of Kaminski’s shooting which was “lights out” during the combine. Kaminski also has the ability to attack the rim and finish while keeping his passing arsenal in his back pocket for when needed. As more announcements on the roster will released in the coming weeks, look out for Anthony Kaminski as he looks to make his mark in the upcoming TBL season.
