Forddy Anderson

Biography

The Gary, Indiana, native led his Ralph W. Emerson High to a IHSAA Sectional title in 1937; he was recruited to Stanford by fellow Indiana native Everett Dean. Anderson was named All-Pacific Coast after the 1940–41 season; after Pearl Harbor was attacked, he joined the US Navy and spent two years at Great Lakes Training Facility, where he played basketball for Tony Hinkle. After completing his Stanford degree in 1946, he was hired as the basketball coach at Drake University. Anderson was considered one of the most innovative coaches of his era and served a combined 24 seasons as head men's basketball coach at Drake University (1946–1948), Bradley University (1948–1954), Michigan State University (1954–1965) and Hiram Scott College (1965–1970).

He twice led his Bradley teams to the NCAA Finals (1950 and 1954). His 1950 team also finished as the NIT runner-up; he moved to Michigan State, where his 1957 Big Ten Champion Michigan State club finished fourth in the Tournament and his 1959 Michigan State team lost in the Elite Eight (regional finals). He was fired in the spring of 1965, whereupon he was recruited to assist in creating the athletic department at Hiram Scott College. After Hiram Scott closed its doors, he was the head coach of Peru's national team during the 1970–71 FIBA seasons and then began a long career as a collegiate scout for the Boston Celtics during the 1980s and 1990s. He was instrumental in many of the Celtics' draft picks during that era.

He died on October 25, 1999, in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, at the age of 80, after suffering from complications due to pneumonia.