LaDell Andersen

LaDell Andersen

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 University Division / Division I) (2–2 (NIT)
Accomplishments and honors
Championships
WAC regular season (1988)
Awards
WAC Coach of the Year (1988)

LaDell Andersen (October 25, 1929 – December 29, 2019) was an American college and professional basketball coach.

Career

Born in Malad City, Idaho, Andersen attended Utah State University, where he became a member of the Sigma Chi fraternity. He was an All-Skyline Conference and an honorable mention All-American 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.

Andersen was hired in 1956 as an assistant coach for University of Utah coach Jack Gardner. Andersen left the Utes in 1961 to become head coach of his alma mater.

Andersen as a player for the Utah State Aggies men's basketball team, circa 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, losing to eventual champion UCLA. Andersen also led them to two appearances in the National Invitation Tournament. He compiled a record of 176–96 (.647) at the school from 1961 to 1971. Former LSU coaching great Dale 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 to Washington State for one season as an assistant before succeeding Press 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 the American Basketball Association's Utah 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 the Indiana 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's athletic director in 1973. Andersen held the post for ten years until he was lured back into coaching again in 1983 for Brigham 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 the National Invitation Tournament. 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 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 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

Statistics overview

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         Conference regular season champion         Conference regular season and conference tournament champion       Division regular season champion       Division regular season and conference tournament champion       Conference tournament champion

External links

• Basketball Reference.com page