St. John’s basketball: Johnnies decide on Mike Anderson as next coach

Missouri 2006-2011

As with many successful mid-major coaches, he was sought after by bigger schools. Missouri was his next job. The Tigers, then a member of the Big 12, hadn’t had a winning record in their previous three seasons. It took him a few years to build the program, with his “in your face” defensive philosophy. Anderson started with seasons of 18-12, and 16-16 before things came together.

In 2008-09 Mizzou went 31-7, finished third in Big 12 regular season play (12-4) and won the conference tournament to secure an automatic NCAA bid. Future NBA players Kim English and DeMarre Carroll were part of that team. Anderson went 23-11 in his next two seasons, earning NCAA Tournament bids in both. Unfortunately for Mizzou, home was calling.

Arkansas 2011-2019

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Anderson began his coaching career as an assistant under Richardson, first at Tulsa, then at Arkansas. He was part of the Razorbacks staff that went to back-to-back NCAA Finals, winning it all against Duke in 1994. When the head coaching job became available at Arkansas in 2011, there was one name at the top of the list, Mike Anderson.

Fayetteville was the longest stop in his head coaching journey, staying with the SEC school for eight years before he was replaced at the end of this season. Anderson had some excellent seasons with the Razorbacks, posting four of 22 or more wins. Ultimately, his lack of SEC success and NCAA tournament early exits did him in.

The Wrap

So what does St. John’s have in Anderson? They have a hard working defense-first head coach. When opponents finish a game with the Red Storm, they will know they were in a 40-minute fight. Anderson checks off all the boxes when it comes to recruiting, teaching, and game planning. Over his 17-year head coaching career, Mike Anderson has a career record of 369-200 and has never had a sub-.500 season.

What he hasn’t done, is make a prolonged NCAA tournament run. That could come next, as his recruiting back yard is ripe with young basketball talent.