LaDell Andersen (October 25, 1929 – December 29, 2019) was an American

college A college (Latin: ''collegium'') may be a tertiary educational institution (sometimes awarding degrees), part of a collegiate university, an institution offering vocational education, a further education institution, or a secondary sc ...

and professional

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

coach.

Career

Born in

Malad City, Idaho Malad City (also commonly known as Malad) is the only city in and the county seat of Oneida County, Idaho, United States. In 2020 the population was 2,299 people.Utah State University Utah State University (USU or Utah State) is a public university, public land grant colleges, land-grant research university with its main campus in Logan, Utah, United States. Founded in 1888 under the Morrill Land-Grant Acts as Utah's federal ...

, where he became a member of the

Sigma Chi Sigma Chi () International Fraternity is one of the largest North American social Fraternities and sororities, fraternities. The fraternity has 244 active undergraduate chapters and 152 alumni chapters across the United States and Canada and has ...

fraternity. He was an All-Skyline Conference and an honorable mention

All-American The All-America designation is an annual honor bestowed on outstanding athletes in the United States who are considered to be among the best athletes in their respective sport. Individuals receiving this distinction are typically added to an Al ...

basketball player in 1951. He was also invited and competed in the 1952 United States Men's Olympic Basketball Team tryouts in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

. Andersen was hired in 1956 as an assistant coach for

University of Utah The University of Utah (the U, U of U, or simply Utah) is a public university, public research university in Salt Lake City, Utah, United States. It was established in 1850 as the University of Deseret (Book of Mormon), Deseret by the General A ...

coach Jack Gardner. Andersen left the Utes in 1961 to become head coach of his alma mater. LaDell Andersen 1951

During his tenure as the Aggies head coach, Utah State made four appearances in the NCAA basketball tournament including a trip to the Elite Eight in

1970 Events January * January 1 – Unix time epoch reached at 00:00:00 UTC. * January 5 – The 7.1 1970 Tonghai earthquake, Tonghai earthquake shakes Tonghai County, Yunnan province, China, with a maximum Mercalli intensity scale, Mercalli ...

, losing to eventual champion

UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Its academic roots were established in 1881 as a normal school then known as the southern branch of the C ...

. Andersen also led them to two appearances in the

National Invitation Tournament The National Invitation Tournament (NIT) is an annual men's college basketball tournament operated by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). Since 2023, all rounds of the tournament are played at various sites across the country whi ...

. He compiled a record of 176–96 (.647) at the school from 1961 to 1971. Former LSU coaching great

Dale Brown Dale Brown (born November 2, 1956) is an American writer and aviator known for aviation techno-thriller novels. At least thirteen of his novels have been ''New York Times'' Best Sellers. Early life Brown was born in Buffalo, New York, and wa ...

served as an assistant coach during Andersen's tenure. Andersen recommended Brown as his successor, but when USU officials rejected the idea, Brown went to

Washington State Washington, officially the State of Washington, is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is often referred to as Washington State to distinguish it from the national capital, both named after George Washington ...

for one season as an assistant before succeeding

Press Maravich Peter "Press" Maravich (August 29, 1915 – April 15, 1987) was an American college and professional basketball coach. He received the nickname "Press" as a boy, when one of his jobs was selling the '' Pittsburgh Press'' on the streets of his hom ...

as LSU's coach, where he remained for 25 seasons (1972–97), compiling a 448–301 record. Andersen was also the head coach of the

American Basketball Association The American Basketball Association (ABA) was a major professional basketball league that operated for nine seasons from 1967 to 1976. The upstart ABA operated in direct competition with the more established National Basketball Association thr ...

Utah Stars The Utah Stars were an American Basketball Association (ABA) team based in Salt Lake City, Utah. Under head coach Bill Sharman the Stars were the first major professional basketball team to use a pre-game shootaround. History prior to moving to ...

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 the

Indiana Pacers The Indiana Pacers are an American professional basketball team based in Indianapolis. The Pacers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Central Division (NBA), Central Division of the Eastern Conference (NBA), Ea ...

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's

athletic director An athletic director (commonly "athletics director" or "AD") is an administrator at many American clubs or institutions, such as colleges and universities, as well as in larger high schools and middle schools, who oversees the work of coaches a ...

in 1973. Andersen held the post for ten years until he was lured back into coaching again in 1983 for

Brigham Young University Brigham Young University (BYU) is a Private education, private research university in Provo, Utah, United States. It was founded in 1875 by religious leader Brigham Young and is the flagship university of the Church Educational System sponsore ...

(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 the

. He resigned as BYU head coach in 1989 and was replaced by Roger Reid. Andersen continued to be involved in basketball acting as a scout and consultant for the NBA's

Utah Jazz The Utah Jazz are an American professional basketball team based in Salt Lake City. The Jazz compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Northwest Division of the Western Conference. Since the 1991–92 season, the ...

organization, partly because of his connections with former Utah State player and longtime Jazz assistant Phil Johnson. It is believed that he was the person who scouted

John Stockton John Houston Stockton (born March 26, 1962) is an American former professional basketball player. Regarded as one of the great point guards of all time, he spent his entire NBA career (1984–2003) with the Utah Jazz, and the team made the pla ...

and encouraged the Jazz to draft him when they did. Andersen died on December 29, 2019, at age 90.

Honors

* Member of the Utah Sports Hall of Fame * Named one of the Top 100 Most Accomplished People in the State of Utah, 1888–1998

Head coaching record

College

References

External links

Basketball Reference.com page
{{DEFAULTSORT:Andersen, LaDell 1929 births 2019 deaths Amateur Athletic Union men's basketball players American men's basketball players Basketball coaches from Idaho Basketball players from Idaho BYU Cougars men's basketball coaches People from Malad City, Idaho Utah Jazz scouts Utah Stars coaches Utah State Aggies athletic directors Utah State Aggies men's basketball coaches Utah State Aggies men's basketball players Utah Utes men's basketball coaches