Jack Ankerson

Class of 1964: Sports executive, broadcaster

After graduation from Ripon, John March “Jack” Ankerson, Class of 1964, was drafted by the NFL’s St. Louis Cardinals as a record-setting quarterback, then has spent the rest of his career as a sports executive and a longtime sports broadcaster.

He was born March 1, 1942, in Neenah, Wisconsin.

“I was very fortunate and blessed to have had (Kermit) ‘Doc’ Weiske as my basketball coach, John Storzer as my football coach, and Dean Robert Ashley as my tennis coach, and it’s plain to see the influence that these three gentlemen had on my athletic career,” Ankerson said. “But it was ‘Doc’ (the salesman) who sold my parents and I on the advantages of attending Ripon as opposed to other schools that were recruiting me. While at Ripon, ‘Doc,’ as he promised my parents, became my second father.”

Ankerson majored in history, was commissioned through ROTC and aired a weekly sports program on WRPN radio. As one of Ripon’s most versatile athletes, he earned All-American honors in football and basketball, and in 1963-64, he led the undefeated football team, the basketball team and the tennis team to conference championships.

In 1964, as a quarterback, he set an NCAA eight-game scoring record of 145 points.

“Ripon represented four of the best years of my life,” Ankerson said. “My experience in athletics developed a keen sense of fair play, teamwork, sportsmanship, and a wonderful sense of camaraderie.”

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

After a brief pro career, he worked in the front office of the Kentucky Colonels of the American Basketball Association (ABA); was general manager of the San Antonio Spurs, where he was named ABA Executive of the Year by The Sporting News in 1974; and 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.

In Virginia, he has been the director of sales and broadcasting for the Norfolk Tides Baseball Club, vice president of operations for the Hampton Roads Admirals Hockey Club, general manager of the Hampton Roads Mariners Soccer Club, and executive director of the Hampton Roads Sports Commission.

His voice is well-known in the area, having served as the sports and program director at WTAR radio station in Norfolk for several years as well as a sports announcer for games at Old Dominion University, Virginia Wesleyan University, Norfolk Tides, the Triple-A affiliate of the Baltimore Orioles, and other area sporting events.

He has been inducted into the Ripon Athletics Hall of Fame, the Hampton Roads Sports Hall of Fame and the Neenah (Wisconsin) Joint School District Hall of Fame.