Oklahoma State shot-blocker Yor Anei, who lost two fingers on one hand, faces K-State
Here’s something you probably don’t know about Oklahoma State forward Yor Anei — he’s missing two fingers.
You can’t tell it based on the way he plays basketball. After losing his middle and index fingers on his right hand in a blender accident as a child, he taught himself how to dribble and shoot with his left hand. That was a difficult process, as he is naturally right-handed, but he now plays basketball like a lefty.
And he does so at a high level, averaging 8.1 points and 4.7 rebounds as a sophomore with the Cowboys.
“People honestly don’t notice until they get up close to me or they shake my hand,” Anei said in a phone interview this week. “That is when they really notice, because I always shake hands with my right hand.”
It even took Oklahoma State coach Mike Boynton a few months to realize the missing fingers after he first spotted Anei hooping on the AAU summer circuit before his senior year at Lee’s Summit West.
“We were probably three months into recruiting him and I had watched him at least five times and I still had no idea,” Boynton said. “Partly because you can’t tell. He never plays like he is missing fingers or talks about it, but you shake his hand and you can tell immediately. Once I got to know him it made what he is doing even more impressive.”
Anei’s journey from losing two fingers on his dominant hand to starting down low for the Cowboys is the type of thing people make movies about, but it’s never felt like a big deal for him.
He is always smiling and playing with energy on the basketball court. That’s what attracted Boynton to him in the first place.
Truth be told, Boynton never intended to recruit Anei. But his former AAU coach used to play for the Cowboys and Boynton made a recruiting trip to watch his team play a few games in the summer of 2016. He intended to scout some of Anei’s teammates but ended up focusing on Anei because he showed relentless tenacity as a shot-blocker.
“Here’s this long kid who doesn’t have a great skill in terms of shooting or ballhandling,” Boynton said, “but, man, he goes and tries to block every single shot. I saw value in that.”
Few other power teams were impressed by Anei. His only other scholarship offer came from Southern Illinois. But the 6-foot-10 big man made the Cowboys look smart for taking a chance on him last season, as he led the Big 12 with 85 blocked shots as a freshman.
Then he began his sophomore season by blocking eight shots in his first game against Oral Roberts. You won’t find many better rim-protectors in college basketball. He has 55 this year.
He is still developing as an offensive player, but he looked skilled on both ends of the floor during a victory over Kansas State earlier this season in which he scored 15 points and grabbed seven rebounds. Stopping him will be a major priority for K-State coach Bruce Weber when those teams meet again at Gallagher-Iba Arena on Wednesday.
Nearly 20 friends and family were in attendance at Bramlage Coliseum for his big game. An even bigger crowd of 40 or so supporters showed up to watch Oklahoma State play Kansas at Allen Fieldhouse a few weeks later.
“I always love coming back and playing anywhere in or around Kansas City,” Anei said. “That’s my hometown and I have a lot of friends and family there. Even when we played in Manhattan, most of them made the two and a half hour drive over for the game. That’s crazy. It means a lot to me.”
When asked about his rise at Oklahoma State, Anei defers credit to his coaches and teammates. They have provided him with a strong support group, and he says he has simply prospered within it.
He would like to continue to improve as a scorer and rebounder, but his main focus will always be on blocking shots.
That’s something he knows he can do at an elite level.
“I love his attitude,” Boynton said. “He is a guy that can compete with great spirit and play with anyone. He has a true physical disability, but he doesn’t approach life like he is disabled. He plays the game he loves with great passion and he is a great teammate and I am fortunate enough to coach him.”
This story was originally published March 3, 2020 at 1:50 PM with the headline "Oklahoma State shot-blocker Yor Anei, who lost two fingers on one hand, faces K-State."