Jimmy Anderson obit

Jimmy Anderson, Oregon State Hall of Famer who spent 5 decades with Beavers basketball, dies at 86

 

He was not on the list.

Jimmy Anderson, who recruited many of Oregon State’s great players during the Ralph Miller era and later became the Beavers’ head coach, died Monday at 86.

A beloved Oregon State figure who attended Beavers basketball games until a few weeks before his death, Anderson was an OSU player or coach for most of five decades. He was inducted into the Oregon State athletics Hall of Fame in 2015.

Anderson helped recruit many of the players who were stars during Miller’s 19-year run as Oregon State coach, including A.C. Green, Charlie Sitton, Steve Johnson, Rickey Lee, Ray Blume, Mark Radford and Lester Conner. As OSU head coach from 1989-96, Anderson coached future NBA stars Gary Payton and Brent Barry.

“His door was wide open at all hours. He was more of a family father figure than a coach to me. It was good cop-bad cop with Ralph and him,” said Sitton, the former McMinnville High star who played at Oregon State from 1980-84 and became a two-time All American.

“Jimmy was the guy who came to McMinnville. He hung out there, came to the house, he and my mom talked gardening. He was the guy beating the streets bringing in players for Ralph.”

Anderson joined Oregon State as a player in 1956. Following a three-year career, Anderson coached the Beavers’ freshman team until 1962. He briefly left to coach Newberg High, then returned in 1965 to Oregon State, where he coached until his retirement in 1996.

Anderson never strayed far from Oregon State after retiring, however. He became an unofficial ambassador for Beavers basketball. Anderson usually sat several rows behind the OSU bench during home games, and had been a regular at practice until this season. Anderson was on hand in Gill Coliseum when Oregon State honored its 1964 Final Four team on Jan. 27.

Wayne Tinkle, Oregon State’s current coach, said he became friends with Anderson shortly after taking over the Beavers program in 2014. Tinkle said for several years on Fridays during the offseason, he’d go over to Anderson’s house to have a glass of wine and talk basketball.

“We really developed a close relationship,” Tinkle said. “He epitomizes everything about Oregon State, hustle, hard work, down to earth. Very supportive of what we’ve been doing.”

Knowing Anderson’s health condition, Tinkle said the former coach was a central theme in his pre-game speech prior to last Wednesday’s game at Oregon.

“It was the last game of the rivalry series as far as the Pac-12 goes, and that for Jimmy, the last one that he’s with us. Hopefully that helped inspire the guys a little bit. I think it did,” Tinkle said.

Anderson would have loved that, Sitton said.

“He would always do the Ducks’ scouting report. We usually played them Saturday, and he’d start getting red-faced by Tuesday. By game time, he could hardly talk, he was so intent on beating the Ducks,” Sitton said.

All totaled as a player and coach, Anderson was part of 576 wins and seven conference titles at Oregon State. During his first year as head coach in 1989-90, the Beavers shared the Pac-10 title and Anderson was named conference coach of the year. It was last time OSU played in an NCAA Tournament until Tinkle’s 2015-16 team went dancing.

The Beavers were 22-7 during Anderson’s first year, his only winning record among the six seasons he was head coach. Anderson’s six-year record was 79-90.

Anderson is survived by his wife Fifi, and four children Jill, Kelly, Jeff and Steve. Jimmy and Fifi Anderson celebrated their 61st wedding anniversary last June.

Details about a memorial service for Anderson are pending.