‘I’m going to make Greer great again’: Amare Anderson’s love for the city that loves him back

Despite pleas to play at other schools, Amare followed his heart and stayed home, vowing to ‘make Greer great again.’

Step into the Old School Barber Shop on any day of the week, any time of day. It doesn’t matter.

Just make sure you’re ready to talk sports when you get there.

From 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. — sun up to sundown — the topic of discussion stays the same. Sports, from the pros down to the high school leagues, is king of conversation among the barbers and the shop’s patrons. Hanging from the walls are pictures of past local star athletes.

For much of Amare Anderson’s young life, that little barber shop — located off East Wade Hampton in the deep, vintage Greer — was home.

Before Anderson became the face of Greer basketball, shooting the net off the rim every week, he’d shoot the breeze with the guys at The Old School Barber Shop. 

Amare’s uncle, Nige Ramage, cut his hair every month. He still does.

His late grandfather, Clarence Moody, used to hang out at the barber shop every day before going to work. Moody passed in 2018. His picture hangs on the walls, too.

“That was just my place growing up,” said Amare.

“Those guys at that barbershop, they know all about every player in every sport at every level,” said Twanzette Anderson, Amare’s mother. “That’s all they talk about. That’s all you get.”

A junior at Greer now, Amare remembers a conversation with his uncle and other barbers at the shop following his freshman basketball season. Amare had just finished a successful campaign with the Yellow Jackets, starting almost every game in his first year on varsity.

As a team, however, Greer finished with a 7-17 record. They were dead last in their region, not sniffing the playoffs. Greer was a far cry from the program it used to be.

The barber shop patrons weren’t shy in giving Amare their opinions.

“Some of them were telling me I needed to go to a different school,” said Amare. “They told me that Greer wasn’t the place I needed to be if I wanted to be successful. They said I needed to leave.”

Amare still goes the Old School Barber Shop to get haircuts from his uncle, Nige Ramage.

“Amare had a lot of schools pulling on him to leave Greer and come over somewhere else instead,” said Amare’s father, Vincent Anderson. “People were telling him to go elsewhere. But that was never going to be him. One thing about Amare is that he’s the most loyal person I know.”

Amare made a declaration in the barbershop that day that he still carries with him. Despite being pushed by many to take his talents elsewhere, he shut them all down.

“My whole life is here in Greer. I’ve got so much family in Greer. This is my home,” said Amare.

“I told them that day that I’m not going anywhere. I’m going to make Greer great again.”

‘KEEP IT UP, YOUNGBLOOD’

Amare’s parents never had to wonder where he was.

“As a young boy… rain, sleet, snow on the ground, cold, hot as ever, dark outside, it didn’t matter,” his mom said. “Amare was always in the backyard playing ball. And we never ever bothered him.”

At first, it was just Amare shooting by himself. But eventually, other kids from the community ventured to the Anderson’s backyard to play basketball with Amare. 

Sometimes, even older members of the community would drive by to offer encouragement.

“Keep it up, youngblood, keep it up!” they’d yell out their car windows. 

They saw Amare’s dedication.

His first sport was baseball, but after picking up a basketball for the first time at age 3, Amare decided to give both sports a shot. 

Amare played baseball and basketball while also singing on Sundays at his church. 

His dad is a pastor at Aiken Chapel Memorial Baptist Church in Taylors. His mom sings at the church and is a gospel recording artist.

As a kid, Amare spent much of his time playing basketball. No matter the weather, he was in the backyard practicing.

Amare’s shy to show off his singing voice these days, but he’s still got it, his parents say.

“Oh trust me, he can still sing,” said Twanzette. “There are some videos out there somewhere and you can see for yourself.”

“It’s true. I was leading worship sometimes in the main service at church,” said Amare, laughing. “Up until I was about 10 or 11. I can still sing, but I don’t do it much anymore.”

Balancing singing, swinging, and shooting proved to be a lot.

Amare fell fully in love with basketball at age 7 and decided to give up baseball a short time later. That decision would soon pay off.

MAKING A NAME 

It wasn’t until the summer after his seventh-grade season that Amare pushed the pedal down on his basketball dreams.

“During my seventh-grade year I made the middle school team, but I was one of the kids on the team who knew I wasn’t going to actually get in any of the games,” said Amare. “That feeling did something to me. I worked my butt off that seventh-grade summer. I wasn’t about to go down like that.”

Amare put the work in, and one year later, he was named the middle school team MVP as an eighth grader. 

“After my eighth-grade year, that’s when I knew I could do something with this,” said Amare. “People started talking about me a little bit more. My name started getting out there.”

One of the people whose name Amare reached? First-year Greer basketball head coach Devin Liferidge. Liferidge had just come over from White Knoll and sought pieces to help build a foundation at Greer.

Amare intrigued him.

“When I first saw Amare as an eighth-grader, I looked at one of my coaches and said ‘This kid could play varsity right now,’” said Liferidge. “We tried to get him to play, but I don’t think it was the right time.”

With input from his parents, Amare decided to wait it out before playing on the varsity team. 

“I think that was the right decision for him,” said Vincent. “He ended up being the second-leading scorer on the varsity team during his freshman year.”

As a sophomore, Amare averaged over 22 points per game and was named Region 4A-2 Player of the Year. He led Greer to a 21-6 record, its best mark in 13 years. 

Their season, however, was cut short by Greenville in the second round of the playoffs.

It was on to his junior season. 

JOB’S NOT FINISHED

After seemingly every shot Amare made, he let out a roar or flexed his arms. Whenever his teammates scored or made a big play, Amare was the first to dap them up and show them love.

It meant everything to him.

Greer’s 59-57 down-to-the-wire win over Greenville on Saturday represented a payoff for Amare’s loyalty. Three times he led his Jackets against Greenville the season prior, three times they fell short — including their 64-58 playoff loss to the Red Raiders.

Not this time. With 20 points, Amare helped lead Greer to its first win over Greenville since 2020. The Jackets improved to 15-3 on the season, on pace to eclipse last year’s stellar record.

“We were able to fight through adversity and finally get one against them,” said Amare. “Some heads went down at some points during the game, but nobody kept them down. I love seeing that.”

“Amare is one of my all-time favorites, one of the most talented guys I’ve ever coached,” said Liferidge. “He’s a leader for us. And the crazy thing is that he’s still figuring things out. His ceiling is just that high.”

After the game, one might have assumed Amare stayed out late celebrating the milestone win. Most 16-year-old kids probably would have. It was a Saturday night, after all.

Not Amare. He had to be up early for church in the morning.

“He’s home by 11 o’clock almost every night,” said Vincent. “After a big win like that, he might go eat with his teammates, but that’s it.”

“If I’m being honest, I’m sort of a homebody anyways,” said Amare. “I don’t always like being around a lot of people. I like being to myself. When a lot of people are around, sometimes it gets to be too much for me.”

Plus, the job’s not finished, Amare says, quoting the famous line from the legendary Kobe Bryant. He’ll celebrate later. There’s still a lot more work left to do. 

And back at The Old School Barbershop, well, it’s Amare they’re talking about now. 

“We brag about him all the time,” said Poley Gregory, one of the shop’s three barbers. “‘He’s tough.’ ‘He’s hard to guard.’ ‘Man, did you see Amare throw it down last night?’ Stuff like that. We all want to see Amare make it.”

One day, Amare hopes his picture will be hanging on those barbershop walls — right next to the stars of Greer’s past. 

Right next to his late grandfather.

For now, he has a promise to keep. 

“I know what I said and I meant it. I’m going to make Greer great again,” Amare said. “There are a lot of people behind me, people who really want me to do this. It’s not just me. That’s what keeps me going.

“We’re far from great yet, but we’re rolling in the right path. It feels good knowing I’m leaning on what I said.”