Don’t Look Back : LSU’s Anderson Has No Regrets About Leaving Irvine

Justin Anderson looked good on national cable television a while back.

He appeared confident when launching his picture-perfect, long-range shot. When covered, he passed to the best college basketball player on the planet, 7-foot-1 center Shaquille O’Neal, then stood back to watch.

Louisiana State lost to Arizona, 87-67, in Anderson’s debut as a starter for the Tigers on Dec. 7, but 10 points, the chance to play alongside O’Neal and in front of ESPN’s cameras more than made up for it.

It has been two years since Anderson traded the blue and white of UC Irvine for LSU’s purple and gold, and he likes the look. And really, what’s not to like?

The other night at the Superdome in New Orleans, 42,211 cheered LSU’s 84-83 victory over Texas.

“I said to my mom last week, ‘There will be more people that will see me play in that one game than in a whole season at Irvine,’ ” said Anderson, a 6-6 senior.

On most game nights, the ticket line winds out of sight outside the Maravich Assembly Center at LSU. The 14,000 who manage to get seats, rock the arena from floor to ceiling. Now that the Southeastern Conference season has begun (LSU opened by beating Auburn, 87-70, Wednesday night), only the nation’s best take the court.

This is what Anderson thought college basketball would be like when he left Valley City (N.D.) High School in 1987 as the state’s player of the year and headed to Irvine. At the time, he was a can’t-miss shooter, a sure-thing superstar who would come from the high plains to lead Irvine to victory in front of packed houses at the Bren Center.

At least that was the way it was supposed to be. What happened was nothing like that. Sure, there were small victories here and there for Anderson, and the chance to play on the outdoor courts at Laguna Beach dressed only in shorts and a T-shirt in mid-December is something he’ll never forget.

For the most part, however, basketball at Irvine amounted to three seasons filled with disappointment and failed expectations. Capping it all was Irvine’s worst season in school history--a 5-23 record--and a desperate move to LSU.

“It was tough to handle,” Anderson said of his final days at Irvine. “It was really a struggle just to go to practice. My love for basketball was disappearing.”

To anyone who watched Anderson as a youngster in gyms in North Dakota, it was an unfathomable notion. From an early age, Anderson tagged along behind his father, Darrell, a junior college basketball coach and a former teammate of LSU Coach Dale Brown at Minot State.

“He would see my players getting their ankles taped up and he wanted his ankles taped, too--he was probably 4 or 5 at the time,” said Darrell Anderson, now athletic director at Valley City State.

It wasn’t long before young Justin became more than a cute face taking aim at a far-off rim in a college gym. Somewhere along the way, he became a dead-eye shooter. At 11, he won a national age-group free-throw shooting contest.

The summer before his senior season at Valley City High, he turned the heads of college coaches with his shooting at a camp for standout high school players at UC Santa Barbara.

“That’s where we saw him first,” Mulligan remembered. “He made all his shots. And I liked shooters.”

Mulligan signed Anderson as soon as he could, and all was well.

As a freshman, Anderson played in 30 games, started four and averaged 5.6 points. He shot 41.3% from three-point range and had a high-game of 17 points. He also made the Big West Conference’s all-freshman team that season.

As a sophomore, he played in 27 games, all in a reserve role, and averaged 3.1 points. He shot 32.4% from three-point range and had a high-game of nine points.

In practice, he rarely missed, but in games he couldn’t repeat that touch and it kept him from earning a starting spot.

“He’s an incredible practice shooter,” former teammate and roommate Don May said. “One time, we were doing spot-shooting drills, and he hit 49 of 50 three-pointers.

“When he played in games, he had trouble because of inexperience and guarding people. He was forced to play guard, and the (lack of) quickness hurt him.”

Expectations at Irvine fell like a rock as Anderson’s junior season lurched to a start in 1989-90. Still, he was in the starting lineup as the Anteaters opened the season with a sloppy 79-71 loss at the University of San Francisco. And he remained a starter as Irvine struggled to a 2-7 record entering the Big West opener Jan. 2 against Utah State at the Bren Center.

By then, Mulligan had changed the offensive scheme several times trying to compensate for injuries to starting point guard Rod Palmer and backup Ben Rishwain. Mulligan had wanted to run the way Loyola Marymount did that season. Soon, however, the Anteaters were walking the ball up the court, and opponents were walking all over the Anteaters.

Anderson later was shuffled in and out of the starting lineup, and Irvine went on to lose a school-record 15 consecutive games. In No. 15, Anderson played 12 meaningless minutes in a 102-63 loss to Cal State Long Beach, the worst in school history.

Irvine went on to beat UC Santa Barbara, an NCAA tournament qualifier, to end the streak, and won three of its final six games, but no matter. Anderson had decided to jump ship.

“I really got along with Coach Mulligan,” Anderson said. “(But) I don’t like changes. I’m not saying they were right or wrong. I just needed more stability. Things were always changing.”

He had watched LSU on TV, seen Brown at a clinic at Irvine and decided to write the coach a letter asking for a chance to play.

“I didn’t know it, but he had seen me play when I was in high school,” Anderson said. “They were scouting another player, and I was playing in the game on the other team. But they couldn’t talk to me because I had already signed a letter of intent with Irvine.”

Still, a move from Irvine to LSU boggled the minds of many.

“Coach Mulligan probably said a hundred times he couldn’t believe Justin left,” May said. “He thought Justin was into academics first and basketball second, and this was purely a basketball move.”

Anderson said recently it was a basketball move, and a risky one at that.

“Naturally, I had my doubts,” he said. “I wasn’t starting at the end at Irvine and we won, what, only five games that year? It would have been easier to finish it out at Irvine, get my degree and go to medical school at Irvine. I took a chance on a harder route. It was the more uncertain route.”

It has worked out for the best, however.

He is starting with a future NBA star, averaging 13 points, and his team is winning. None of that would have been possible if he continued to play at Irvine.