Kyle Anderson (basketball)
 | |
| No. 5 – UCLA Bruins | |
|---|---|
| Position | Point guard |
| League | Pacific-12 Conference |
| Personal information | |
| Born |
September 20, 1993 Fairview, New Jersey |
| Nationality | American |
| Listed height | 6 ft 9 in (206 cm) |
| Listed weight | 235 lb (107 kg) |
| Career information | |
| High school | St. Anthony (Jersey City, New Jersey) |
| College | UCLA (2012–present) |
| Career highlights and awards | |
| |
Kyle Anderson (born September 20, 1993) is an American college basketball player from Fairview, New Jersey. He currently attends UCLA[2] in his sophomore year. He completed his high school career for St. Anthony. Many experts considered Anderson the top point guard in the recruiting class of 2012, including ESPN, Scout.com[3] and Rivals.com. Anderson is known for his tall stature despite being a point guard, which has drawn him comparisons to Magic Johnson and Larry Bird.[4]
High school career
Anderson, a 6–9 point guard, compiled a win-loss record of 119–6 as a four-year starter, including 65–0 in two years at St. Anthony. When St. Anthony captured its second straight Tournament of Champions title and concluded its second straight undefeated season with a 66–62 victory over Plainfield, Anderson was the team’s third-leading scorer with 14 points. Kyle led the team in scoring (14.7 points per game), rebounding (6.5 per game), assists (3.9 per game), blocked shots (2.0 per game) and deflections. Free-throw percentage may have been the only category he didn’t lead our team. But more importantly, Kyle was 93–1 in his last three years of high school. In 2012, Bobby Hurley confirmed a statement:
| “ | He is as unassuming as a star athlete could possibly be; he is just laid back and old school, Hurley said. I think his best asset is passing and that kind of goes with his personality. He would rather make the great pass than score the basket. His family did a great job keeping him balanced.[5] | ” |
Recruiting
| Name | Hometown | High school / college | Height | Weight | Commit date | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kyle Anderson PG |
Fairview, NJ | St. Anthony (NJ) | 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) | 215 lb (98 kg) | Sep 20, 2011 | |
Scout: Rivals: 247Sports: N/A ESPN grade: 97 | ||||||
College career
Anderson decided on Sep 20, 2011 that he would be joining the UCLA Bruins to play Division I basketball. Anderson went off to a good start with the Bruins as he travelled to China to compete in an exhibition tour. Anderson particularly stood out against China's Prominent Shanghai Sharks of the Chinese Basketball Association. The freshman scored 21 points, grabbed 11 rebounds and handed out five assists in the game as UCLA closed its exhibition tour of China with its closest game but perhaps its most impressive performance in a 92–63 victory.[6] Anderson said about the game:
| “ | They had a different style of play, kind of an NBA style of play. They were very well-disciplined and well-coached, you could tell. They were staying on their feet, not falling for shot fakes, coming into jump stops, just the fundamentals and the basics. They cut it to 10 points, and that’s when we got it together. We kept our composure and went on a great run. Basketball is a game of runs. | ” |
At the end of the season, Anderson was named to the All-Pac-12 second team and the Pac-12 All-Freshman team.[7]
2013-14 Season
On November 29, 2013, UCLA won the Continental Tire Las Vegas Invitational and Anderson was named the tournament's MVP. The team started the season with a 7-0 record.
Comparisons
The 6–9 prospect can play any of four positions on the court, from point guard to power forward, drawing comparisons this summer to basketball legends Magic Johnson and Larry Bird. Anderson's high school coach Bobby Hurley said, "I think he's a modern-day Magic Johnson. I think that let him play the point. He gets everybody shots. You don’t have him back defensively balancing the floor, you’re wasting him. But you let him do a lot of what the point guard stuff entails. But then also defensively you don’t bother guarding him on the little guy. Put him on maybe the three man or even sometimes the four man if he’s a step-out player. And now you have a guy like Larry Bird who anticipates. He gets a lot of deflections and steals. He’s long, he blocks shots. And then when he gets a defensive rebound, you got a fast-break started already.""[8]
International play
Anderson was Named to the 2009–10 USA Basketball Men's Developmental National Team on May 28, 2009.[9]
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 "Basketball Recruiting – Kyle Anderson". ESPN. Retrieved September 16, 2012.
- ↑ "Kyle Anderson commits to UCLA". ESPN. Retrieved September 16, 2012.
- ↑ "KYLE ANDERSON". Rivals. Retrieved September 16, 2012.
- ↑ http://deephousepage.com/forums/showthread.php?t=234941
- ↑ "Kyle Anderson of St. Anthony is The Star-Ledger's state boys basketball Player of the Year for 2011–12". New Jersey. Retrieved September 16, 2012.
- ↑ "Kyle Anderson leads UCLA past final Chinese foe". AOL News. Retrieved September 16, 2012.
- ↑ Yoon, Peter (March 11, 2013). "Shabazz Muhammad, Larry Drew II named All Pac-12". ESPN.com. Archived from the original on March 11, 2013.
- ↑ "Bob Hurley: Prospect Kyle Anderson a Magic-Bird combo". AOL News. Retrieved September 16, 2012.
- ↑ "USA Basketball: Kyle Anderson". USA Basketball. Retrieved September 16, 2012.