Sport(s) Basketball, Baseball | Name Wayne Anderson | |
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Born December 10, 1930Spokane, Washington ( 1930-12-10 ) 1949-1953 Idaho (football, baseball) | ||
Wayne Delbert Anderson (December 10, 1930 – January 16, 2013) was an American college basketball coach, the head coach at the University of Idaho for eight seasons. He was also the head baseball coach at Idaho, his alma mater, for nine seasons, and the assistant athletic director for fifteen years.
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Playing career
Born and raised in Spokane, Washington, Anderson graduated from Rogers High School in 1949, where he was a star athlete. He enrolled at the University of Idaho in Moscow, 100 miles (160 km) south, and was a two-sport athlete for the Vandals, then a member of the Pacific Coast Conference.
Anderson was the starting quarterback and nationally-ranked punter on the football team and a pitcher on the baseball team (and also played basketball as a freshman). During his senior year, he was elected class president. He was a member of Delta Chi fraternity.
Coaching
Following graduation in 1953, Anderson coached a year in Roseburg, Oregon, and then served two years in the U.S. Army. He returned to the university in 1956 to run its intramural program and work on his master's degree. In the summer of 1957, he was promoted to assistant coach in basketball and football, and became the head baseball coach for the 1958 season.
Baseball
The baseball team won the inaugural Big Sky title in 1964 and again in 1966, led by starting pitchers Bill Stoneman and Frank Reberger. The 1966 team was 31–7 in the regular season and made the NCAA playoffs for the first time; the Vandals eliminated Colorado State and Air Force with three straight victories the road in Greeley, Colorado. One step from the College World Series in Omaha, the Vandals fell 3–2 and 8–5 to Arizona in Tucson in the District 7 finals, today's "super-regionals" (sweet 16). Idaho finished the season at 34-9 and Anderson was named Big Sky baseball coach of the year.
Basketball
That September, Anderson was promoted to head coach in basketball, and stopped coaching baseball. He had been an assistant for eight years to the previous four head coaches in basketball. In his second season in 1968, he was named conference coach of the year. In 1971, he took on additional duties as assistant athletic director. After his eighth season as head basketball coach, Anderson resigned both positions in March 1974 and stopped coaching. He returned to the university in 1982 as the assistant athletic director, and stayed for another dozen years, retiring in December 1994.
Anderson is a member of the Idaho Athletic Hall of Fame and the University of Idaho's Athletic Hall of Fame.
Death
Anderson died at age 82 at St. Joseph Regional Medical Center in Lewiston on January 16, 2013.