Tag: Mike Anderson

Arkansas Basketball: The All-2010s Team

Arkansas basketball produced some memorable moments and players during the 2010s. Here’s the All-2010s Arkansas basketball team.

The 2010s went much better for [autotag]Arkansas basketball[/autotag] than the decade that preceded it. The program began winning more regularly and were a much more consistent presence in the NCAA Tournament.

However, they were still not able to make it over the hump and into the second weekend of March Madness.

The decade began with John Pelphrey’s tenure coming to an end after four seasons and only one NCAA Tournament appearance. [autotag]Mike Anderson[/autotag] was hired to try and replicate what his mentor Nolan Richardson was able to accomplish.

While Anderson never had a losing season as Arkansas’ head coach and was able to produce some extremely talent players, he was never able to advance past the second round of the NCAA Tournament. The 2010s would end with the introduction of [autotag]Eric Musselman[/autotag] as head coach and his first season in Fayetteville.

Arkansas basketball produced a lot of memorable and talented players during this decade. Here’s a look at the All-2010s Razorback team, with the best of the best from this period in Arkansas basketball.

Former Arkansas coach Mike Anderson suing St. John’s for $46.5 million

Per ESPN, Mike Anderson is suing for $11.4 million left on his deal and the rest for punitive damages.

In March, ESPN reported former Arkansas and St John’s coach Mike Anderson was suing SJU for wrongful termination. On Thursday, more details came out.

Per ESPN’s Myron Medcalf, Anderson is stating in the lawsuit that St. John’s fired him for cause so that they could avoid paying his buyout and instead use the money saved to hire Rick Pitino. Pitino was officially hired hours after Anderson’s suit became public and 10 days after Anderson was officially let go.

Anderson is suing for $45.6 million, $11.4 of which is the amount he had remaining on his deal with St. John’s. The additional money is punitive, per Medcalf’s report.

The school had said in its firing that one of the reasons Anderson was terminated was because of his “failure to perform your duties and responsibilities in a manner that reflected positively on St. John’s University.” Anderson said the cause was “wholly without merit.”

St. John’s went 68-56 and 30-46 in the Big East during Anderson’s four seasons and did not play in the postseason. He was hired there in 2019 after he was dismissed from Arkansas. With the Hogs, in eight seasons, Arkansas went 79-64 in SEC play and made three NCAA Tournaments and two NITs.

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Mike Anderson, longtime Arkansas head coach and assistant, to sue St. John’s over firing

Anderson was dismissed from St. John’s earlier in March. The former Arkansas coach says the termination was wrongful.

St. John’s fired head basketball coach Mike Anderson earlier this month after four seasons. On Monday, word came that Anderson would be suing the university.

ESPN obtained Anderson’s termination letter, which read Anderson was fired for cause, listing at least three reasons. One of them read he was fired for “failture to perform your duties and responsibilities in a manner that reflected positively on St. John’s University.”

Anderson said he believes he was wrongfully terminated. St. John’s would have owed him $11 million were he not fired for cause.

“I vehemently disagree with the university’s decision to terminate my contract for cause,” Anderson told ESPN. “The for cause accusation is wholly without merit and I will be aggressively defending my contractual rights through an arbitration process.”

The Red Storm were 68-56 and 30-46 in the Big East during Anderson’s four seasons. They did not play in the postseason.

Anderson picked up with St. John’s in spring of 2019 after Arkansas had dismissed him. He coached eight season with the Hogs, making three NCAA Tournaments and two NITs. Before that, he was an assistant to Nolan Richardson from 1985-2002, head coach UAB from 2002-06 and head coach at Missouri from 2006-11.

Richardson filed suit against Arkansas in 2002 citing a racially discriminatory environment. That suit was dismissed in 2004.

Arkansas radio color commentator and former assistant coach Matt Zimmerman took to Twitter to defend Anderson on Monday.

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Column: The magic of Arkansas basketball has returned under Eric Musselman

The magic of Arkansas basketball has returned. Our Connor Goodson explains why these tournament runs are so special for Hog fans.

Three months before [autotag]Scotty Thurman[/autotag]’s iconic shot went in against Duke to secure the Razorbacks’ 1994 national championship, I was born.

In fact, my mom was holding me while Thurman’s shot went in and jumped up in celebration – nearly dropping me in the process. I think that’s probably what secured my Arkansas fandom for life.

Unfortunately, the only way I ever got to truly enjoy those legendary 1990s Arkansas teams were through the 1994 and 1995 commemorative VHS tapes titled Hog Heaven: From Walton Arena to Number One and Heart Stopping Hogs: The Battle to Seattle. I wore out those VHS tapes as a kid, watching them at my grandparent’s house over and over and over again.

My first true memories of Arkansas basketball were in 2000, the year [autotag]Nolan Richardson[/autotag] won his first [autotag]SEC Tournament[/autotag] championship. Then, it was two decades of mediocracy as I – along with every other Razorback fan – craved to see Arkansas play meaningful basketball deep into March once again.

Watching Stan Heath’s teams, the 24 hours of Dana Altman and then John Pelphrey’s teams all underachieve was what defined my childhood Razorback fandom. I was envious of those who grew up watching those almost-mythical “40 Minutes of Hell” teams in the 1990s.

The [autotag]Mike Anderson[/autotag] years were fun at times, but the deep postseason NCAA Tournament runs were absent and the thirst for national relevancy was never quite quenched.

Along comes [autotag]Eric Musselman[/autotag] in 2019 and the 2020-2021 season happens. Not only do the Hogs make it to the second weekend, but they make it all the way to the Elite Eight. Last year, we see the same thing happen. Back-to-back Elite Eights for the first time since those legendary 1994 and 1995 teams.

Making it to the second weekend of the [autotag]NCAA Tournament[/autotag] once could be considered a fluke. Back-to-back? An impressive coincidence, maybe. Back-to-back-to-back? There’s no way to dismiss that kind of accomplishment.

That brings us to this season.

The hype, excitement and anticipation all rivaled anything that I have experienced as an Arkansas basketball fan. The Hogs had three five-star freshmen to pair with a highly-touted crop of transfers. [autotag]Devo Davis[/autotag] and [autotag]Kamani Johnson[/autotag] also returned from last season’s Elite Eight team.

It felt like the stars had aligned, but that feeling quickly diminished as injuries derailed what most thought would be a special regular season. The team struggled to find their groove for the majority of conference play, and limped into the NCAA Tournament having lost four of their last five games.

A win over Illinois in the first round was one thing, but beating the defending national champion Kansas Jayhawks in the second round was a totally different beast. There’s no way THIS Arkansas team can do that, right?

Wrong.

Arkansas, once again, shocked the world.

Eric Musselman lost his shirt, Devo Davis broke down in the postgame interview and Razorback legend [autotag]Darrell Hawkins[/autotag] gave a postgame speech for the ages.

Was it a Final Four or national championship? No. But as I said earlier, back-to-back-to-back Sweet 16 appearances can’t be dismissed.

On my social media feeds, I saw celebrations from family members, friends, former high school and college classmates, former teachers and co-workers, complete strangers and everyone in-between. People from all walks of life and every corner of the state were celebrating and brought together by Arkansas basketball.

I was immediately brought back to watching old Razorback games at my grandparents house, desperately wanting to experience those special moments in real time as a kid. If you were to ask around, I guarantee that you’d find similar experiences to mine.

It took nearly 30 years, but the magic of Razorback basketball has returned.

Enjoying and cherishing the moment shouldn’t be hard for Arkansas fans. The journey isn’t over, there are still games to be played and milestones to be reached, but the pride and enthusiasm from fans across the state – and far beyond – is back to where it was over two decades ago.

Whatever happens next can’t take that away.

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St. John’s fires Mike Anderson, targeting Rick Pitino as replacement

St Johns has joined the coaching carousel after firing Mike Anderson.

St. John’s has decided to move on from head coach Mike Anderson according to CBS Sport’s John Rothstein and is eyeing Iona’s Rick Pitino to be his replacement. 

Anderson just finished his fourth season with the Red Storm, trying to help restore the program to its former glory. His departure comes after an 18-15 season including a 7-13 conference record, after beating Butler in the first round of the Big East Tournament, the Red Storm lost on Thursday to the top-seeded Marquette Golden Eagles 72-70 in the quarterfinals of the tournament.

Anderson departs St. Johnson’s despite leading the Red Storm to four-straight winning seasons and an overall record of 68-56. However, the Red Storm failed to make the NCAA Tournament during his tenure.

With his success not just at St. John’s but in his career overall with a career record of 437-256, Anderson should be a popular name this offseason in the coaching carousel and should be able to find another job quite easily if he looks to continue his coaching career. During his 21 years of coaching, he has led his programs to nine NCAA Tournament appearances.

As mentioned above, Rick Pitino appears to be St. John’s top target and has reportedly been vetting Pitino for several weeks.

The long-time head coach is currently in his third season with Iona, leading the program to the NCAA Tournament in his first season in 2020-2021 as well as back-to-back regular season titles each of the last two seasons.

Pitino, of course, is best known for his tenures at Kentucky and Louisville from 1989 to 1997 and 2001 to 2017 respectively. As a head coach, he has won two national titles, one at both Kentucky and Louisville while also leading his programs to seven Final Four appearances and 23 combined regular season or conference tournament titles.

While success has followed Pitino, the 70-year-old head coach has also had his fair share of scandals during his career including a “pay-to-play” scandal at Louisville that ultimately resulted in his departure as the Cardinals’ head coach..

While Pitino’s name is thrown around in these job searches, the Iona Gaels are preparing to play tonight in the MAAC Tournament Semifinals.

Tom Izzo one of just four coaches without a losing season after 15 years

Tom Izzo has accomplished a lot during his time at MSU, but did you know during his tenure that he has never had a losing season!

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The FOX College Hoops Twitter account made note of a few active coaches who have 15+ years of experience with no losing record, among them are St. John’s Mike Anderson, Gonzaga’s Mark Few, Syracuse’s Jim Boeheim, and MSU’s very own Tom Izzo!

Tom Izzo has been with the Spartans since 1995 and has only gotten better with experience. He has made the NCAA Tourney every year since 1997, his third season as head coach. His overall record at MSU is an astonishing 628-241, a winning percentage of 72.3%! Plus he has a College Basketball Championship from 1999-2000.

Mike Anderson has coached for UAB, Missouri, Arkansas, and St. John’s over the course of 18 years and has a record of 386-215 (.531 win percentage).  He has coached his teams to nine NCAA Tourneys and advanced as far as the Elite Eight in 2008-09 with Missori.

Mark Few has coached the Gonzaga Bulldogs since 1999 and has made the tournament every year.  His total record is 599-124 and a win percentage of .828!  His best year was 2016-17 where the Bulldogs went 37-2 and were runner-ups in that years NCAA Tournament.

Lastly, Jim Boeheim the longest tenured coach has been coaching the Syracuse Orange since 1976!  He has a record of 964-399, which is a win percentage of .707.  He had an additional 101 wins stripped due to various scandals.  He has lead Syracuse to the NCAA Tournament a total of 34 times and won the championship in 2002-03 lead by Carmelo Anthony.

Who do you think of these four have been the most impressive?

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Mike Anderson, recent GAM Mid-Am champ, gets a second wind in his golf life

Mike Anderson has gained experience and perspective in his golf and professional life.

Mike Anderson is 50 years old, just days from turning 51, and he figures to one day reflect on his recent win over the field of age 25-plus golfers in the Golf Association of Michigan Mid-Amateur Championship at Boyne Highlands Resort. He’ll consider it a highlight of his golfing career.

“Just because of my age, this one is a lot more satisfying,” the Northville resident and Saginaw native said.

“I won college events and I hardly remember them. My last win was a mini-tour event somewhere when I was a professional. Those were the days when I was kind of arrogant and stupid enough to think I should win all the time. Now I realize just how difficult it is to win anything.”

Anderson has gained experience and perspective in his golf and professional life. He is the son of longtime Saginaw Country Club PGA professional Max Anderson, a former Michigan State University golfer, a former PGA professional and mini-tour professional for eight years, a four-time PGA Tour Qualifying School participant, a reinstated amateur and now a high school golf coach at Detroit Catholic Central and managing director of investments for Stifel Nicolaus Company with an office in Southfield.

The 1986 Michigan Junior State Amateur Champion also hits a lot of fairways and has a great short game.

“I stopped playing competitive golf for several years and it is one of the few regrets in my life,” he said. “I did it to build my business following my professional golf career. I started playing again about five, maybe six years ago in GAM tournaments and a few USGA tournaments and I enjoyed it.

“What I had really missed, and I didn’t realize how much I missed it, was the competition, the part where you get in contention and then what do you do when you get there. It’s been fun finding that again, and to be able to play in GAM tournaments with guys I’ve competed with for years, and in things like the Mid-Am against people younger than I am and to play well is pretty cool.”

He shot a cool 71 on the Moor course in the final round at Boyne Highlands to win the celebrated Glenn H. Johnson Trophy and the 38th GAM Mid-Amateur title by three shots with a 140 two-day total (3-under 69 on the Hills course day one).

“I’ve been playing steady all summer, but (that) week was interesting,” he said. “The conditions were not that great with steady winds and sometimes gusting winds. I was chipping and putting well all week and in those conditions and on those courses it was hard to hit greens and get the ball close to pins. I was missing in the right spots and I was able to get up and down. I can also hit the ball low when I need to and I was able to hit a lot of low trajectory shots and stay out of trouble.”

Anderson considers course management a strength of his game, and he credits running the golf program at Catholic Central for 12 years as helpful in that regard.

“I manage the course better now because of having to practice what I preach,” he said. “I drive it alright and chip and putt alright. I don’t shoot high scores I think because my rhythm and timing are usually good.”

Anderson has been married to Kathy, his high school sweetheart, for 27 years and they have three children: Emily, a senior at Michigan State, Abby, a freshman at the University of Tennessee and Max, a sophomore at Northville High School.

He plans to continue playing amateur golf and said he feels fortunate that Michigan has a state association that provides great tournaments, venues, quality of competition, and organization.

“We, the players, talk about it often,” he said. “We recognize how fortunate we are. It’s incredible what the GAM does year in and year out, the volunteers they get, everything about it. It’s a really cool thing the GAM has created. Personally I’m, very appreciative.”

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