Anderson formally introduced
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Arkansas introduced a familiar face as its new basketball coach on Saturday with the return of Mike Anderson to become the 12th coach in the school's history.
Anderson comes to Arkansas from Missouri where he was 111-56 for the five years he coached there. Anderson was an assistant for 17 years at Arkansas under Nolan Richardson. During that period, Arkansas went to 13 NCAA Tournaments including winning the national championship in 1994.
"It's a tremendous honor to be named the head men's basketball coach at the University of Arkansas," Anderson said. "I am extremely excited to once again be a part of this special University and Razorback Athletics. With the continued passionate support of all Razorback fans, I am confident that we have the opportunity to succeed on and off the court and continue to build on the University of Arkansas' championship tradition."
Anderson was hired on Wednesday to replace former coach John Pelphrey, who was fired on March 13. Anderson is 200-98 as a head coach including four-year stint at UAB before heading to Missouri. Anderson was emotional on Saturday when introduced as the new coach, but was very comfortable wearing a Razorback baseball cap and Calling the Hogs, something Dana Altman wasn't comfortable doing in 2007 when he was hired for what turned out to be around 24 hours before returning to Creighton.
"I have always said it's about two things...relationships and communication," Anderson said.
Anderson was asked on a few different occasions about a statement he made recently that he 'planned to retire at Missouri'. While Arkansas was Anderson's dream job, he admitted leaving Missouri wasn't easy.
"It was a very, very difficult decision," Anderson said. "When I said that, it was coming from the heart. I invested five years there. I left a program that only had one senior and when I said that I meant that."
Arkansas Vice Chancellor and Director of Athletics Jeff Long helped introduce Anderson on Saturday and was excited for what Anderson can bring to the basketball program.
"We are extremely excited to welcome home Mike Anderson to the University of Arkansas as our new head men's basketball coach," Long said. "Mike is one of the outstanding head coaches in college basketball. His teams play an exciting brand of basketball that has already proven successful at both UAB and Missouri.
"Under Mike's leadership, I am confident the Razorbacks will be successful in the future on and off the court. The decision to hire Mike Anderson as head coach is based on my firm belief that he is the right person to lead the Razorback program today and in the years to come."
In addition to beating Duke 76-72 in 1994 for the national title, Anderson was part of a coaching staff at Arkansas that won five outright conference championships, 15 post season appearances, five Sweet 16s, four Elite 8s, three Final Fours and finished as National runner-up in 1995 losing to UCLA in the title game.
The key member of the 1994 and 1995 teams was forward Corliss Williamson, who is now the head coach at UCA. Williamson is pleased to see Anderson return to Arkansas and hopefully lead the Razorbacks back to national prominence.
"I have watched Coach Anderson's progression as a head coach with much admiration," Williamson said. "He has been a mentor to me as my coach and now as a colleague. The University of Arkansas is blessed to have this man, who holds Razorback Basketball close to his heart, as its new head coach. In his pursuit of excellence, Coach Anderson will reshape and redefine the culture of Arkansas Basketball. Wow, this is a great day! Welcome home Coach A!"
Anderson did end speculation about his coaching staff at Arkansas. Anderson announced on Saturday that his three assistants at Missouri would come to Arkansas with him in the same capacities.
"If it's not broke, why fix it?" Anderson said referring to his coaching staff. "I'm big on loyalty. We have formed a great team."
The staff will included T.J. Cleveland, Melvin Watkins and Matt Zimmerman. Cleveland lettered at Arkansas from 1999-2002. He is Anderson's nephew. Zimmerman is an Arkansas native and Watkins is touted as a very good recruiter by various sources.
Several former Arkansas players were present on Saturday for Anderson's press conference including Lee Mayberry, a talented point guard from 1989-92 who went on to play in the NBA.
"I am very excited about Coach Anderson returning to the University of Arkansas," Mayberry said. "He will bring great kids and exciting basketball. He will be great for the program on and off the court."
Former Razorback Pat Bradley, who now has a popular radio show in Little Rock, was also present and he too is pleased to see Anderson return to Bud Walton Arena.
"As former players we got together and we would talk about how special it would be if Coach Anderson could one day come back and be the coach here and lead us back to being a program that we once were," Bradley said. "But you kind of never really thought it was going to happen. Now, all of a sudden, it's happening and it's just like a dream. A really, really great dream that you don't ever want to wake up from. It's almost too good to be true."
In addition to his staff, Anderson also said he would retain Scotty Thurman, who was also a key member of the 1994 team that won the championship. It was Thurman's big shot late against Duke that helped seal the win. Thurman returned to Arkansas last year under Pelphrey as Director of Student-Athlete Development. Thurman is pleased to see Anderson returning to the UA.
"Coach Anderson is the perfect fit for Arkansas," Thurman said. "This hire symbolizes what the UA tradition means to him, our administration, fans, current and former players."
Anderson is expected to make approximately $2.2 million per year at Arkansas, a salary that puts in the upper echelon of college basketball coaches, but Anderson said it isn't something that he feels will place additional pressure on him.
"I know there is work to do here," Anderson said. "All I want to do is come in and work hard. I'm very big on discipline and we're going to do it the right way here."
Anderson did say he hit the ground running on recruiting to meet with the five signees that made up the No. 5-rated class by Rivals.com and said those meetings went good. He said he answered a lot of questions the recruits and their parents had and said they may still have some more questions. It is expected that all five recruits will be at Arkansas in the fall.
Anderson also is meeting with current Arkansas players though many have been gone due to spring break, but did say he had a very good meeting with sophomore forward Marshawn Powell.
Anderson also called anything about some Missouri players possibly transferring to Arkansas 'speculation' and he had no comment on that. The most speculation has centered around guards Matt Pressey, 6-2, 185, and Phil Pressey, 5-10, 160. Matt is a junior who averaged 5.7 points, 1.8 rebounds and 1.6 assists per game while Phil is a freshman who averaged 6.5 points, 2.3 rebounds and 3.9 assists.