Big East Basketball: Ranking all 10 head coaches for 2019-20 season
By Joey Loose
6. Mike Anderson (St. John’s)
Speaking of Chris Mullin, the basketball program at St. John’s hasn’t exactly been a well-oiled machine in recent years. Last year’s team turned in a First Four appearance, though it wasn’t good enough to save Mullin from getting axed. After a bizarre and complicated head coaching search, the Red Storm landed on Anderson and may have landed a better coach than anyone expected.
Born and raised in Alabama, Anderson played at a community college in the state before Nolan Richardson recruited him to Tulsa for two years. Following graduation, Anderson stayed at Tulsa as an assistant to Richardson, later following him to Arkansas. Anderson was an assistant on Arkansas’ 1994 national title team. In 2002, he became a head coach, taking control at UAB and leading them to a Sweet Sixteen. Four years later, Missouri gave him the job and got an Elite Eight out of it.
In 2011, Arkansas brought Anderson back to the school as head coach. He certainly didn’t elevate the program back to the level that Richardson had it, leading the Razorbacks to just three NCAA Tournament. His hiring at St. John’s a few months after his firing came as a bit of a surprise. He takes over in urban New York after nearly forty years playing and coaching in the south.
For St. John’s to hire a coach with nearly 400 career wins and 9 NCAA Tournament appearances after their fiasco search is an incredible result. That being said, Anderson’s coaching career has been a slight disappointment in recent times. The geography might be strange, but Anderson has the ability to succeed with the Red Storm, much like he did at UAB nearly two decades ago.