A native of Neenah, Wisconsin

Neenah, Wisconsin

Neenah is a city on Lake Winnebago in Winnebago County, Wisconsin, United States. Its population was 24,507 at the 2000 census. The city is bordered by, but is politically independent of, the Town of Neenah. Neenah is the southwestern-most of the Fox Cities of Northeast Wisconsin...

, Jack Ankerson attended Ripon College

Ripon College (Wisconsin)

Ripon College is a liberal arts college in Ripon, Wisconsin, USA. It offers small class sizes and intensive mentoring to students. Ripon has a chapter of Phi Beta Kappa--one of the nation's most prestigious honor societies. Alumni have high rates of success in the workforce as well as acceptance...

 where he played football, tennis

Tennis

Tennis is a sport usually played between two players or between two teams of two players each . Each player uses a racket that is strung to strike a hollow rubber ball covered with felt over a net into the opponent's court. Tennis is an Olympic sport and is played at all levels of society at all...

, and basketball

Basketball

Basketball is a team sport in which two teams of five players try to score points by throwing or "shooting" a ball through the top of a basketball hoop while following a set of rules...

, earning all-conference honors in 1963 and 1964 and ranked as one of the small school’s all-time leading scorers.

He was drafted as a quarterback

Quarterback

Quarterback is a position in American and Canadian football. Quarterbacks are members of the offensive team and line up directly behind the offensive line...

 in the 16th round of the 1964 NFL Draft

1964 NFL Draft

The 1964 National Football League Draft took place on December 2, 1963.-Player selections:-Round one:* HOF Member of the Professional Football Hall of Fame-Round two:-Round three:-Round four:...

 by the St. Louis Cardinals

St. Louis Cardinals

The St. Louis Cardinals are a professional baseball team based in St. Louis, Missouri. They are members of the Central Division in the National League of Major League Baseball. The Cardinals have won eleven World Series championships, the most of any National League team, and second overall only to...

. After a brief football career with the Cardinals, Ankerson worked in the front office of the Kentucky Colonels

Kentucky Colonels

The Kentucky Colonels were a member of the American Basketball Association for all of the league's nine years. The name is derived from the historic Kentucky colonels. The Colonels won the most games and had the highest winning percentage of any franchise in the league's history, but the team did...

 of the American Basketball Association

American Basketball Association

The American Basketball Association was a professional basketball league founded in 1967. The ABA ceased to exist with the ABA–NBA merger in 1976.-League history:...

 (ABA). He was later hired as general manager of the San Antonio Spurs

San Antonio Spurs

The San Antonio Spurs are an American professional basketball team based in San Antonio, Texas. They are part of the Southwest Division of the Western Conference in the National Basketball Association ....

, where in 1974, The Sporting News

The Sporting News

Sporting News is an American-based sports magazine. It was established in 1886, and it became the dominant American publication covering baseball — so much so that it acquired the nickname "The Bible of Baseball"...

 named him ABA Executive of the Year.

In May 1974, Ankerson was hired as the general manager

General manager

General manager is a descriptive term for certain executives in a business operation. It is also a formal title held by some business executives, most commonly in the hospitality industry.-Generic usage:...

 of the ABA’s Virginia Squires

Virginia Squires

The Virginia Squires were a basketball franchise in the former American Basketball Association from 1970 until just before the ABA-NBA merger in 1976.-In Oakland :...

, who would finish the 1974-75 season with a record of 15-69, the worst in the league.

Ankerson served as head coach of the Squires for two games, going 1-1, after taking over for Bill Musselman

Bill Musselman

William Clifford Musselman was an American basketball coach in the NCAA, the ABA, the WBA, the CBA, and the NBA. He was a fiercely intense coach who once was quoted as saying "defeat is worse than death, because you have to live with defeat."-Early life:Musselman was the second of five children....

 on January 21, 1976. Ankerson was replaced by Zelmo Beaty

Zelmo Beaty

Zelmo "Big Z" Beaty is a former American basketball player.A 6'9" center from Prairie View A&M, Beaty was selected with the third pick of the 1962 National Basketball Association Draft by the St. Louis Hawks. Beaty was named to the inaugural NBA All-Rookie Team in 1963, and played a total of...

 two days later.

Ankerson worked for several years as the sports and program director at WTAR

WTAR

WTAR is a comedy formatted broadcast radio station licensed to Norfolk, Virginia, serving Hampton Roads. WTAR is owned and operated by Sinclair Telecable, Inc.-History:...

 radio station in Norfolk, Virginia

Norfolk, Virginia

Norfolk is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. With a population of 242,803 as of the 2010 Census, it is Virginia's second-largest city behind neighboring Virginia Beach....

In 1995, at the age of 53, Ankerson joined the Norfolk Tides

Norfolk Tides

The Norfolk Tides are a minor league baseball team in the Triple-A International League. They play at Harbor Park in Norfolk, Virginia. Since 2007 they have been a farm team of the Baltimore Orioles; prior to that, they had a 38-year affiliation with the New York Mets.-Franchise history:The...

, then the Triple A affiliate of the New York Mets

New York Mets

The New York Mets are a professional baseball team based in the borough of Queens in New York City, New York. They belong to Major League Baseball's National League East Division. One of baseball's first expansion teams, the Mets were founded in 1962 to replace New York's departed National League...

, as the team’s director of broadcasting and sales.

He later served as executive director of the Hampton Roads Sports Commission in Virginia Beach, Virginia

Virginia Beach, Virginia

Virginia Beach is an independent city located in the Hampton Roads metropolitan area of Virginia, on the Atlantic Ocean at the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay...

.

In 2010, he was selected for induction into the Hampton Roads Sports Hall of Fame.