Ryan Anderson happy to be 'home' with Wildcats as graduate assistant

When he collapsed virtually untouched on a baseline drive during a Lithuanian pro basketball game last October, Ryan Anderson knew something was seriously wrong.

“As soon as it happened, I was like, ‘Yeah, I’m done. This is a bad one,’” said Anderson, who tore the ACL, MCL and meniscus of his left knee all in one cruel swoop. “It was a crazy mess.”

But what Anderson didn’t know was how he would land, saying Thursday he accepted an unexpected offer from new Arizona coach Tommy Lloyd to become a graduate assistant this season.

It just took a while to figure out how, and why.

An all-Pac-12 player for the Wildcats in 2015-16, Anderson bought a house in Tucson in April, figuring he would set down some long-term roots while continuing to rehabilitate his knee.

Former UA coach Sean Miller, meanwhile, had contacted Anderson after his injury to offer support and help for wherever he went in the future, and Anderson had an option year left with his Lithuanian club, BC Siauliai.

Anderson is only 28, probably at or near what would be his professional peak, with five years of professional experience, having played in Belgium, Germany, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Ukraine and in the G League.

Anderson said he has rehabilitated the injury fully and his early production last season, with averages of 14.7 points and 5.7 rebounds, suggested both BC Siauliai and Anderson might want to pursue that option year in 2021-22.

“They wanted me to come back and I was really considering coming back,” Anderson said. “Obviously it’s hard to walk away from the game when you know that you still can play at a high level, and you have probably some more you can prove. But for me, I just couldn’t pass up on opportunity to learn from coach Lloyd and all these other great coaches here.”

Besides, Anderson was getting tired of the injury bug. Even before he arrived in Tucson back in 2014, it had become a part of his basketball career.

The Long Beach, California, native scored 1,282 points in three seasons for Boston College. He opted for shoulder surgery after the 2013-14 season and transferred to Arizona while recovering. Anderson finished up the rehab and practiced with the Wildcats during their Elite Eight season of 2014-15, and then played all of 2015-16.

But injury issues hit him again as a professional. He missed two months of his rookie season in 2016-17 with a partial tear of his patella. Missed eight months of 2017-18 season in Germany with plantar fasciitis and a torn ankle ligament. And missed two months of the 2019-20 season in Luxembourg with a high ankle sprain.

So maybe continuing to play didn’t sound so great after all.

“Yeah, I think I’m good,” Anderson said. “I had a good run. I love playing the game. I’ll still always be around the game but my passion and energies and everything about this stage of my life just goes hand-in-hand with coaching — and physically, to not have to be in another country or put myself at health risks.

“I had a lot of injuries and the thing about playing overseas is you’ve got to build on year after year so if you’re not building year after year, it makes it tough.”

So once Lloyd offered Anderson a chance to rejoin the program as a graduate assistant, there was not much decision-making left to do. Anderson just had apply to the Eller College of Business, where he will pursue a degree in entrepreneurship, saying he took summer courses over the summer to boost his GPA.

When those grades posted last month, and Eller admitted him, it was a done deal.

Anderson now has a chance to earn a free master’s degree — and get on a high-level coaching track.

“I could have gone back and played, but with where I’m at in my life, I just felt like coaching was always something that I wanted to do,” Anderson said, “and the opportunity to come learn from staff like Tommy and coach (Jack) Murphy and everybody, was just an opportunity that I felt like I couldn’t pass up.”

Back to homepage

Subscriber Login

Keep reading with a digital access subscription.

Subscribe now

Graduate assistants, unlike most support staffers, are allowed to work with players on the court along with full-time coaches and managers. That’s helped bring the Wildcats a young voice with professional playing experience — including some near the home turf of key players Azuolas Tubelis and Kerr Kriisa — while giving Anderson a chance to see the game differently than he did as a player.

“It’s been fun getting to know everybody and learning a different approach to basketball,” Anderson said. “Tommy and all the guys he’s brought with him from Gonzaga are just basketball minds. I feel like I’ve learned so much and it’s only been a short period of time. I just look forward to keep building relationships with them and trying to soak everything in.”

As a bonus, Anderson also gets to stay in his new Tucson house for at least two years, the allowable length of a GA stint and the Eller program.

“If I had the choice, I would love to stay forever and just be a part of the program,” Anderson said. “You know, even after playing professionally, being here was two of my favorite years in my basketball career. So it feels good to be back home here in Tucson and a part of the program. Whatever I can do to help give back is all I’m really trying to do.”

Robinson hire official

Calling him “a first-class individual” who “knows the ins and the outs of championship-level basketball,” Arizona coach Tommy Lloyd announced Thursday that he has hired veteran assistant coach Steve Robinson to the Wildcats’ staff.

The news comes more than a week after multiple media reports confirmed by the Star said the former Kansas and North Carolina assistant would be joining the Wildcats’ bench in Lloyd’s first year.

The 63-year-old Robinson replaces Jason Terry, who left the UA last month for a job in the G League. Lloyd indicated when Terry left that he would pursue a veteran assistant. Robinson won three national championships and made eight Final Four appearances as Roy Williams’ trusted assistant at both North Carolina and Kansas.

“That experience will be an invaluable asset to our team and our program,” Lloyd said in a news release. “We look forward to welcoming Coach Robinson and his wife, Lisa, to Tucson and the Arizona basketball family.”

Robinson first joined Williams at Kansas in 1988, and stayed there for seven seasons before becoming head coach at Tulsa and then Florida State. He returned to Kansas for one year as an assistant before following Williams to UNC in 2003. He stayed with the Tar Heels until this spring, when Williams retired. Robinson was not retained by new coach Hubert Davis, who instead packed his bench with former UNC players.

Robinson said in a news release that he was thankful to Lloyd “for this opportunity to join his staff at a place with the history and tradition like the University of Arizona.”

“We have gotten to know each other over the years, and I know relationships are very important to him, so I can’t wait to start building those relationships on and off the court with the rest of the staff and the young men in this program,” he said.

Robinson joins a new-look coaching staff that includes returning assistant Jack Murphy and two support-staffers, TJ Benson and Jason Gardner, who have collegiate coaching experience. Lloyd has moved to hire former Phoenix Suns player development coach Riccardo Fois as his third assistant sometime this month, pending the hiring process that includes his work visa status as an Italian citizen.

Mathurin gains 15 pounds

After splitting his summer work between Arizona and two Canadian national teams, 6-foot-7 sophomore Bennedict Mathurin weighed in 15 pounds heavier at 210 on the 2021-22 roster the Wildcats updated Thursday.

Now a projected first-round NBA Draft pick in 2022, Mathurin went to camp with Canada’s senior team in June and then helped lead his country’s U19 team to a bronze medal in the FIBA U19 World Cup in July.

Center Christian Koloko was the only other Wildcat posting a weight gain, up five pounds to 230 on his 7-foot-1-inch frame, while reserve wing Tautvilas Tubelis dropped five pounds to 220 on his 6-7 body. Koloko has said he missed offseason strength training time in 2020 thanks to California health restrictions.

No other returning Wildcats showed height or weight differences from those posted last season, while none of them changed jersey numbers. All of the heights listed are with shoes on and half-inches rounded up, meaning players are normally an inch or two shorter without shoes.

Of the new Wildcats, freshman guard Shane Nowell took No. 1 and freshman wing Adama Bal No. 2 while the transfers kept the numbers at their schools last season: Sophomore guard Pelle Larsson will wear No. 3 as he did at Utah, super senior guard Justin Kier kept the No. 5 he wore at Georgia last season, sophomore Oumar Ballo kept his No. 11 from Gonzaga and senior forward Kim Aiken will wear the same No. 24 he did last season for Eastern Washington.

Last season, Daniel Batcho wore No. 1, Jemarl Baker was No. 3, Tibet Gorene was No. 5 and Ira Lee was No. 11.