 | |
| Biographical details | |
|---|---|
| Born | (1929-10-25)October 25, 1929 Malad City, Idaho, U.S. |
| Died | December 29, 2019(2019-12-29) (aged 90) St. George, Utah, U.S. |
| Playing career | |
| 1948–1951 | Utah State |
| Coaching career (HC unless noted) | |
| 1956–1961 | Utah (assistant) |
| 1961–1971 | Utah State |
| 1971–1973 | Utah Stars |
| 1983–1989 | BYU |
| Administrative career (AD unless noted) | |
| 1973–1983 | Utah State |
| Head coaching record | |
| Overall | 287–167 (college) 115–52 (ABA regular season) |
| Tournaments | 6–10 (NCAA) 2–2 (NIT) |
| Accomplishments and honors | |
| Championships | |
| WAC regular season (1988) | |
| Awards | |
| WAC Coach of the Year (1988) 2×ABA All-Star Game head coach (1972, 1973) | |
LaDell Andersen (October 25, 1929 – December 29, 2019) was an Americancollege and professionalbasketball coach.
Born inMalad City, Idaho, Andersen attendedUtah State University, where he became a member of theSigma Chi fraternity. He was an All-Skyline Conference and an honorable mentionAll-American basketball player in 1951. He was also invited and competed in the 1952 United States Men's Olympic Basketball Team tryouts inNew York City.
Andersen was hired in 1956 as an assistant coach forUniversity of Utah coachJack Gardner. Andersen left the Utes in 1961 to become head coach of his alma mater.
During his tenure as the Aggies head coach, Utah State made four appearances in theNCAA basketball tournament including a trip to the Elite Eight in1970, losing to eventual championUCLA. Andersen also led them to two appearances in theNational Invitation Tournament. He compiled a record of 176–96 (.647) at the school from 1961 to 1971. Former LSU coaching greatDale Brown served as an assistant coach during Andersen's tenure. Andersen recommended Brown as his successor, but when USU officials rejected the idea, Brown went toWashington State for one season as an assistant before succeedingPress Maravich as LSU's coach, where he remained for 25 seasons (1972–97), compiling a 448–301 record.
Andersen was also the head coach of theAmerican Basketball Association'sUtah Stars for two seasons (1971–72 and 1972–73). Andersen had success with the team and led them to two Western Division regular season titles but both seasons were ended by theIndiana Pacers in the Western Division playoff finals. Andersen compiled a 115–43 (.684) regular season coaching record with the Stars. Despite his success with the Stars, Andersen resigned after his second season with the team.
He returned to Utah State University and was appointed as the school'sathletic director in 1973. Andersen held the post for ten years until he was lured back into coaching again in 1983 forBrigham Young University (BYU).
Andersen coached the Cougars for six years and compiled a 114–71 (.616) record. BYU made four post season appearances including three in the NCAA basketball tournament and one in theNational Invitation Tournament. He resigned as BYU head coach in 1989 and was replaced byRoger Reid.
Andersen continued to be involved in basketball acting as a scout and consultant for the NBA'sUtah Jazz organization, partly because of his connections with former Utah State player and longtime Jazz assistantPhil Johnson. It is believed that he was the person who scoutedJohn Stockton and encouraged the Jazz to draft him when they did.
Andersen died on December 29, 2019, at age 90.[1]
| Season | Team | Overall | Conference | Standing | Postseason | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Utah State Aggies(Mountain States Conference)(1961–1962) | |||||||||
| 1961–62 | Utah State | 22–7 | 12–2 | 2nd | NCAA University Division Regional Fourth Place | ||||
| Utah State Aggies(NCAA University Division independent)(1962–1971) | |||||||||
| 1962–63 | Utah State | 20–7 | NCAA University Division First Round | ||||||
| 1963–64 | Utah State | 21–8 | NCAA University Division Regional Fourth Place | ||||||
| 1964–65 | Utah State | 13–12 | |||||||
| 1965–66 | Utah State | 12–14 | |||||||
| 1966–67 | Utah State | 20–6 | NIT First Round | ||||||
| 1967–68 | Utah State | 14–11 | |||||||
| 1968–69 | Utah State | 9–17 | |||||||
| 1969–70 | Utah State | 22–7 | NCAA University Division Elite Eight | ||||||
| 1970–71 | Utah State | 20–7 | NCAA University Division First Round | ||||||
| Utah State: | 173–96 | 12–2 | |||||||
| BYU Cougars(Western Athletic Conference)(1983–1989) | |||||||||
| 1983–84 | BYU | 20–11 | 12–4 | 2nd | NCAA Division I Second Round | ||||
| 1984–85 | BYU | 15–14 | 9–7 | T–3rd | |||||
| 1985–86 | BYU | 18–14 | 11–5 | 4th | NIT Quarterfinal | ||||
| 1986–87 | BYU | 21–11 | 12–4 | 2nd | NCAA Division I First Round | ||||
| 1987–88 | BYU | 26–6 | 13–3 | 1st | NCAA Division I Second Round | ||||
| 1988–89 | BYU | 14–15 | 7–9 | 5th | |||||
| BYU: | 114–71 | 64–32 | |||||||
| Total: | 287–167 | ||||||||
National champion Postseason invitational champion | |||||||||