A native of Neenah, Wisconsin, attended Ripon College, where he played football, tennis, and basketball, earning all-conference honors in 1963 and 1964 and ranked as one of the small school's all-time leading scorers.
After a brief football career with the Cardinals, Ankerson worked in the front office of the Kentucky Colonels of the American Basketball Association (ABA).
He was later hired as general manager of the San Antonio Spurs, where in 1974, The Sporting News named him ABA Executive of the Year.
In May 1974, Ankerson was hired as the general manager of the ABA's Virginia Squires,[1] who would finish the 1974–75 season with a record of 15–69, the worst in the league.
[2] He is also the "Voice of the Monarchs," the public address announcer for Old Dominion University football and men's and women's basketball games.