Considering Ryan Andersonโs knee was shredded on a Lithuanian basketball court at the peak of his professional playing career, he was due for a little good fortune with the next step.
Last summer, just as the former Arizona standout bought a house in Tucson and began taking college courses again following his horrific October 2020 injury, new UA coach Tommy Lloyd offered Anderson a chance to join the Wildcats as a graduate assistant. That meant he could start a coaching career, go to class for free, and not have to move.
This spring, Anderson found another offer he couldnโt refuse.
The coach who recruited Anderson to the Wildcats as a transfer from Boston College in 2014, Sean Miller, was back at Xavier for a second stint with the Musketeers.
Having once talked to Anderson about possibly joining him someday at Arizona, which fired Miller in April 2021, Miller this time offered Anderson the role of director of player development and on-campus recruiting at Xavier.
It was a significant move up the coaching ladder.
โIt really caught me by surprise,โ Anderson said. โI wasnโt sure about Coach Millerโs situation and obviously, I was very happy for him when he signed at Xavier. I didnโt think there would be an opportunity for me there, but when he called and broke down how he would like me to join him, and how I would be of use, it was really a no-brainer for me.โ
So already at age 29, Anderson has a resume that includes first-team all-Pac 12 honors in 2015-16, professional playing experience in four European countries plus the G League, and a season on Lloydโs coaching staff.
Heโs been exposed to playing, strategy, development, recruiting โฆ and the intangibles that helped lead Arizona to a 33-4 record last season.
โI just learned so much, from how to play our offense with so much pace and the concepts we had defensively but more so just about the culture of what (Lloyd) tries to bring to our locker room, our coaching staff, our day-to-day relationships,โ Anderson said.
โThatโs what Iโm gonna remember most about this year โ that from Tommy all the way down to me, we cared about the guys so much. I think that culture of love from us to them and then between each of the players, is what everybody saw out on the court. We were really connected and unified.โ
Anderson also had some fun out on the court, too. NCAA rules allow graduate assistants to be on the floor for practices with the fulltime coaches. And as a 29-year-old with a knee that was over a year removed from injury, he still had plenty of ability to play on the Wildcatsโ scout team, mimicking moves that an upcoming opponent might make.
โI enjoyed that a lot,โ Anderson said. โAs the season went on, sometimes I almost did the full practice with the team, just being another bigger body that we would play against. That was a lot of fun for me this year going up with Christian (Koloko) and Oumar (Ballo). Iโll miss that.โ
Arizona forward Ryan Anderson throws down a dunk during the Wildcats' December 2015 win over NAU. Anderson spent last season as a UA graduate assistant before deciding to follow former coach Sean Miller to Xavier.
As a support staffer at Xavier, Anderson wonโt be allowed on the floor for practices except when fulltime coaches are on the road recruiting. Anderson said he hopes to fill the gaps for what the coaches arenโt able to do, as well as help organize the Musketeersโ recruiting efforts.
While Anderson has been entering the profession at a time of profound change, with name, image and likeness rules and transfer portal activity defining much of roster management now, he also sees opportunity there, too.
โAs this transition kind of goes in college sports, I feel like Iโm in a perfect age range where Iโm able to relate to (players), but still be mature enough to understand the coaching aspects and the business side of it,โ Anderson said. โIโll be one of the guys who are a bridge into this new age of college basketball in terms of figuring out what works best for the school and for the players.โ
And while he enjoyed his time on the practice court last season, Anderson says he doesnโt have an itch to play again.
He just followed his instincts into coaching and, so far, things have fallen into place quickly.
โIโm pretty in tune with how my mind, body and soul feel and I knew that I was ready to walk away from it,โ Anderson said. โIโll be 30 in December. It just wasnโt the long-term trajectory of my life that I was looking for.
โAnd I was lucky enough that we had a great season. Iโve learned so much from Coach Lloyd and now Iโm excited to learn more from Coach Miller. It just seems like God has put this path and Iโm just gonna try to walk through the next door thatโs open for me.โ
Rim shots
Former UA guard Parker Jackson-Cartwright was named MVP of the Germanyโs BBL (Bundesliga), after averaging 19.3 points and 7.4 assists per game for Telekom Baskets Bonn. Since leaving UA after the 2018-19 season, Jackson-Cartwright also picked up league MVP honors in Britain during the 2019-20 season and in Franceโs second-tier league in 2021-22.
Lloyd was scheduled to meet with recruiting target Kwame Evans on Thursday, according to reporter Adam Zagoria, after UA offered the 2023 five-star forward a scholarship over the weekend. Expected to visit Oregon this weekend, Evans is also considering the Ducks along with Indiana, Auburn, Kentucky and UCLA.
Former UA forward Keanu Pinder picked up the Australia NBLโs Most Improved Player award after averaging 10.9 points and 7.6 rebounds per game for the Cairns Taipans in a season that ended last weekend. Pinder shot 55% from the field and blocked an average of one shot per game.
Walk-on forward Jordan Mains was one of 280 Pac-12 athletes named to the conferenceโs winter academic honor roll. Athletes in at least their second year with a school are eligible if they have a cumulative 3.3 grade-point average.
