Anthony Ianni, who played Big 10 basketball for Michigan State University, has used his notoriety for bringing attention to two things: bullying and autism. Why? Because when he was younger, he was bullied because he has autism. Ianni spoke to a gym full of students, occasionally so quiet you could hear a pin drop, on March 10 at Grand Island Central Catholic. “I, myself, was a victim and a target of bullying from my kindergarten days until I was a freshman in high school for two reasons,” he said. “The first reason is because I have autism.” He said when he was in first grade, he said and did things that were out of the ordinary. A lot of those things were different, he said, and people always wanted to bully and tease him because of that. He said the second reason he was bullied was because when he was in sixth grade, at 11-years old, he was already six-feet tall and wore a size 13 shoe. “I was the biggest kid in my school and the biggest kid in the entire town,” he said. “They always wanted to bully and tease me because I was so much bigger and taller than every one else around me.” He endured teasing from one student in particular, who called him “the jolly green giant.” He told himself it was okay because he didn’t think he would see him again after a two-month basketball camp. Unfortunately, they ended up going to the same middle school where he continued to tease him and call him names. But after a “silly game of basketball” one day where Ianni had scored 20 points, his bully stopped teasing him. “The point of the story is be careful what you say and do to others in life because you never know what that person is going to be like in the future,” he said. “That person you bullied, teased or disrespected, that person could end up being your boss one day.” Ianni said statistically, 65 to 90 percent of kids with autism are the prime target for bullies. When he was 4 years old, he was diagnosed with Pervasive Developmental Disorder, an autism spectrum disorder. Doctors told his parents he would barely graduate from high school and would likely end up in an institution for the rest of his life. “I wasn’t told that story until my freshman year in high school,” he said. “That became my motivation to prove those people wrong.” He not only went on to graduate from high school, but graduated from Michigan State with a bachelor’s degree in sociology. He has since participated in “The Relentless Tour” traveling the country as a motivational speaker against bullying. “I’m proud of two things in my life and the first one is this: everyone here in this gym is looking at the first known athlete with autism to play Big 10 basketball, and I’m very proud of that,” he said. “But I think I’m more proud of the fact that I graduated and got my degree from Michigan State.” Ianni, a Catholic, said there a number of celebrities that faced similar circumstances growing up, being bullied when they were younger including Lady Gaga, Taylor Swift, Tom Cruise, Leonardo DiCaprio, Chris Rock, Michael Jordan, and Justin Timberlake. Towards the end of his program, Ianni chose a handful of students from the crowd, presenting them with a wristband reading “How Can I Be the Change.” “My main goal is simple,” he said. “To stop and eradicate as much bullying as I can.”