Mike Anderson (basketball, born 1959)

Mike Anderson

For other uses, see Mike Anderson (disambiguation).

Mike Anderson (born December 12, 1959, in Birmingham, Alabama) is an American college basketball coach, who was appointed as the head men's coach at the University of Missouri on March 26, 2006.

Playing career

Anderson grew up in Birmingham, where he attended Jackson-Olin High School in the Ensley-Pratt City neighborhood, leading the Mustangs to the semifinals of the Alabama state basketball tournament and averaging 19 points per game in his junior and senior years and winning all-state honors. Anderson moved on to Jefferson State Community College in Birmingham, where he was spotted by an opposing coach named Nolan Richardson. When Richardson was offered the coaching job at the University of Tulsa, he quickly offered Anderson a scholarship. In Anderson's two years with the Golden Hurricane he averaged 12 points a game, and the team won an NIT title and gained an NCAA tournament berth.

Coaching career

Assistant positions

After graduating in 1982, Anderson went into substitute teaching while looking for a coaching job. Richardson brought him on to Tulsa's staff as a volunteer assistant. When Richardson moved on to the University of Arkansas, he brought Anderson along as an assistant for a 17-year stint, the last five as assistant head coach. During that time, the Razorbacks won three Southwest Conference championships, two Southeastern Conference titles, three appearances in the Final Four, a national championship 1994 and a second-place finish in 1995. When Richardson was fired (see: Nolan Richardson#University of Arkansas controversy), Anderson took over for the remainder of the 2001-02 season as interim head coach.

UAB

At University of Alabama at Birmingham, Anderson coached the Blazers three appearances in the NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament over four years, and one appearance in the National Invitation Tournament. In 2004, the Blazers advanced to the Sweet Sixteen by virtue of a stunning 76-75 upset victory over the University of Kentucky, the tournament's overall #1 seed. UAB ended the season ranked 23rd in the USA Today coaches' poll, the first time the team ever ended the season with a ranking. Anderson was named Conference USA Coach of the Year.

Missouri

The First Two Seasons (2006-2007) & (2007-2008)

Anderson was then hired in 2006 to take over at the University of Missouri, a once-proud program that had seen scandal and progressively poorer results under Quin Snyder. Anderson's first team, a ragtag collection of transfers and raw talent, went 18-12 but missed out on post-season play after a loss to Baylor in the Big 12 Tournament. His 2007-08 campaign saw the inclusion of his nephew DeMarre Carroll, a transfer from Vanderbilt, but also was hit by scandal, as a group of players (the "Athena Five", so named for where the incident took place) were arrested for a fight in a Columbia nightclub. While all were suspended, many Mizzou supporters called into question his ability to discipline his men, both off the court and on it: the Tigers finished 16-16, crashing out of the Big 12 Tourney to Nebraska and once again missing out on post-season play.

The Third Season (2008-2009)

Anderson's third season at Mizzou, the 2008-09 season brought with it many questions: How well would he be able to blend his seven new players (five freshman and two transfers) with the remaining Tigers from the previous season including the only two remaining players from the Quin Snyder era? After failing to reach the post season his first two seasons would Mike Anderson be able to lead his Tigers to an NIT or NCAA post season tournament? Missouri was picked to finish 7th in the Big 12 by the coaches. The Tigers season started off to a great with a 9-1 record including wins over USC and Cal and a close loss to a top 25 team (Xavier) in Puerto Rico. Unfortunately the Tigers then lost their tenth straight bragging rights game to Illinois causing some fans to doubt how good the team really was or whether Coach Anderson's style would work at this high D1 level. The Tigers finished their non conference schedule with a record of 13-2. Losing their Big 12 opener at Nebraska again caused some to question the style of play, the coach, and the team. However the team responded by winning eleven of their next twelve Big 12 games including a last-second win at Texas, which earned them a national ranking, and then a memorable win over their arch rival Kansas at home, where the Tigers climbed back from a 16-point halftime deficit to win with 1.3 seconds remaining. Mike Anderson's 2008-09 Tiger team finished their last home game of the season by beating #5 Oklahoma on senior night. The Tigers went undefeated at home winning 18 games and losing none. The Tigers then won the Big XII tournament by defeating Texas Tech, Oklahoma State, and then Baylor (Mar. 14) on successive nights.The Tigers' success has continued into the first three rounds of the 2009 NCAA tournament. Victories over Cornell, Marquette, and Memphis have the Tigers in the Elite 8.

Anderson is also one of ten finalists for the 2008-09 national coach of the year honor. The other 9 finalists are John Calipari, Memphis; Bill Self, Kansas; Jamie Dixon, Pittsburgh; Mike Montgomery, California; Stew Morrill, Utah State; Matt Painter, Purdue; Oliver Purnell, Clemson, and Brad Stevens, Butler.

One of the best coaches ever.

Head coaching record

Statistics overview

Season	Team	Overall	Conference	Standing	Postseason
UAB (Conference USA) (2002–2006)
2002–2003	UAB	21-13	8-8	T-2nd (National)	NIT Quarterfinals
2003–2004	UAB	22-10	12-4	T-1st	NCAA Sweet 16
2004–2005	UAB	22-11	10-6	T-4th	NCAA 2nd Round
2005–2006	UAB	24-7	12-2	2nd	NCAA 1st Round
UAB:		89-41	42-20
Missouri (Big 12 Conference) (2006–present)
2006–2007	Missouri	18-12	7-9	6th
2007–2008	Missouri	16-16	6-10	10th
2008–2009	Missouri	31-6	12-4	3rd	NCAA Elite Eight
Missouri:		65-34	25-23
Total:		154-75
National champion         Postseason invitational champion         Conference regular season champion         Conference regular season and conference tournament champion       Division regular season champion       Division regular season and conference tournament champion       Conference tournament champion

Outside of coaching

Anderson and his wife, Marcheita, have three children: Darcheita, Michael Jr., and Yvonne; and one grandchild. Michael Jr. is a walk-on senior guard under his father at Missouri, while Yvonne currently plays for the Texas Longhorns' women's team as a freshman. Many say Coach Anderson highly resembles George Jefferson of the popular 70s-80s television sitcom The Jeffersons.

Anderson also has two nephews in the University of Missouri organization. Nephew DeMarre Carroll is the team's leading scorer, and nephew T.J. Cleveland is currently an assistant coach.

External links

• UAB — Mike Anderson biography
• ESPN.com — Source: Missouri to hire UAB's Anderson