Kim Anderson Archives

“True Son” Anderson heads across the border into Kansas to continue his passion for coaching

March 28, 2017 By Bill Pollock

Kim Anderson addresses fans and faculty of Pitt State

Pittsburg State University introduced Kim Anderson as the men’s basketball coach on Monday. Anderson, 61, comes to Pittsburg State after serving the past three seasons as head basketball coach at his alma mater, the University of Missouri. He has a 301-162 (.650) career collegiate coaching record.

Anderson is back in Division II, where prior to his three seasons at Mizzou, Anderson coached 12 seasons at MIAA Conference Central Missouri, leading the Mules to the 2014 NCAA Division II National Championship as well as two additional Division II Final Four appearances (2007, 2009) while compiling a 274-95 (.743) record at the school.

Anderson led UCM to seven trips to the NCAA Division II National Tournament and seven 20-win seasons. In his final season with the Mules he guided the squad to a 30-5 overall record and the D2 national title. His Mules teams captured six MIAA regular season titles (2005, 2007, 2010, 2012, 2013, 2014) and four MIAA Tournament titles (2005, 2007, 2009, 2013). He was selected the MIAA Coach of the Year in 2005 and 2010, and the NCAA Division II National Coach of the Year in 2014.

A native of Sedalia, Mo., Anderson played basketball at the University of Missouri from 1973-77 under legendary coach Norm Stewart. He was a first-team All-Big Eight selection as a senior in 1977 as well as the Big Eight co-Player of the Year that season.

Anderson’s first official day on the job with the Gorillas is April 10.

Kim Anderson’s comments

Kim Anderson draws big applause at press conference saying all the right things on turning Mizzou basketball around (AUDIO/VIDEO)

April 29, 2014 By Bill Pollock

Kim Anderson is ready to bring a new identity to Mizzou basketball

Kim Anderson was introduced as Mizzou’s next men’s basketball coach on Tuesday morning at the Reynolds Alumni Center on the campus of the University of Missouri. As Anderson and his family walked into the room, he was greeted to a standing ovation from the dozens of fans who crammed into the Great Room.

Anderson touched on the criticism from outside analysts who thought he was too old for the job. The 58 year old joked, “I found out yesterday I was old. I was devastated.”

Anderson got choked up when he thanked the administration and players at Central Missouri, but calls Missouri his dream job. He emphasized they would be a team that would play hard-nosed defense and find an identity that Mizzou basketball fans could identify with.

We’ll have more coverage of coach Anderson, but here are his opening comments and the media question and answer segment.

AUDIO Listen to coach Kim Anderson’s press conference (32:00)

The crowd goes wild as Anderson enters the room.

The chance to compete for championships each year is what drives athletes to play for UCM’s Anderson (INTERVIEW)

April 3, 2014 By Bill Pollock

Kim Anderson has built and continued a successful basketball program at Central Missouri (photo/UCM Athletics)

Central Missouri men’s basketball coach Kim Anderson has been asked the same question quite a bit over the last few years. Why not coach Division I basketball?

“We have a chance to win. Conference championships or conference tournament championships, regional or national championships now,” is what Anderson tells people and recruits. “There are a lot of Division I jobs where you can’t say you can win a national championship.”

Anderson has been at Central Missouri for 12 seasons and in seven of those, his teams have played in the national tournament with three trips to the Final Four. This season, improbable as it seemed at the beginning of the year, the Mules made it the Elite Eight and won three games in Evansville, Indiana over teams that were ranked fourth, first and seventh in the nation respectively.

Don’t get me wrong, the Mules were a good team (ranked 20th), but they had to play the role of underdog and Anderson’s 2013-14 team met the challenge. What’s even more impressive with this national championship team is that the roster had ten new players. Rebuilding usually means having a down year. That was not the case with this team that finished with 30 wins.

For his success, Anderson was just named the National Association of Basketball Coaches, Division II Coach of the Year.

Before leaving for Dallas and the Division I Final Four, coach Anderson spent about 20 minutes with me on the phone, talking about this past Monday’s pep rally at school, an in-game decision he made that may have turned around the championship game in his favor, plus what his future holds.

Thanks and congratulations to Coach Anderson and the Mules. Hope you enjoy our conversation!

AUDIO Conversation with Kim Anderson (18:00)