Upper Iowa University Athletics

Antonio “Tony” Giger, class of 1988, is being inducted into the Upper Iowa University Athletic Hall of Fame in the athlete category. He was a four-year basketball letterman, a starter throughout his career and served as team captain during his senior year. Named the Iowa Intercollegiate Conference MVP in 1987, Giger was bestowed many other honors during his Peacock playing days. In 1988, he was named a National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) Honorable Mention. Prior to that, Giger was named to the West District All-Star First Team in 1987 and 1988 and he earned “All West” Region Second Team honors in 1987.
 
In 1988 and 1987, he was an All-IIAC First Team performer while earning second team honors in 1986. A member of the prestigious 1,000 point club at UIU, Giger currently sits in fifth place all time at UIU with 1,738 points in his career and is sixth in rebounds with 740. As a junior, he averaged 24.1 points per game, while finishing with 19.5 points per game as a senior.
 
“I think he is one of the most consistent and capable players we had in the IIAC over the last 10 years,” said retired Coach Buzz Levick of Wartburg in 1988. “He is a great scorer from the outside as well as the inside, and an excellent rebounder for his size. He has been the dominant player in the Iowa Conference the past two seasons.”
 
Dr. Doug McReynolds, an Upper Iowa Professor of English, called Giger, “the best player on the Upper Iowa court in my 20 years at UIU.”
 
A graduate of Lasalle High School in South Bend, Indiana, where he excelled in football and basketball, Giger graduated from UIU with a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Marketing and a minor in business. For the past 12 years, Giger has focused on his business career, starting in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, then moving to Asheville and to Fletcher, North Carolina. Starting out as a supervisor, then manager, and moving on to a Quality Assurance Technician, Giger is presently the Quality Assurance Engineer with Continental Teves of Fletcher, N.C.
 
Tony and his wife, Chele, are the proud parents of daughters, Jessica, Makayla and Amaya and sons, Demetrius, Gaige and Tia. They reside in Arden, N.C.