Former Mizzou player, coach to bring Pitt State basketball team to KU on Tuesday

Kim Anderson, a first-team all-Big Eight forward at Missouri in 1977 and head coach at his alma mater the last three seasons before this one, did not attend — or watch the pay-per-view broadcast — of the recent Missouri vs. Kansas basketball exhibition at the Sprint Center.

“In fact we had practice during that game. I didn’t watch it at all. I had some people tell me some things about it,” Anderson said in a phone interview on Friday. Anderson is in his first-year as basketball coach at Pittsburg State, which will play Kansas in a preseason game on Tuesday night at Allen Fieldhouse(7 p.m. tipoff).Fieldhouse.

“We did. We did have a good practice,” Anderson replied when asked if the Gorillas had a productive workout that same day as the KU-MU “Showdown for Relief.”

“I don’t know if that had anything to (do with it). Probably didn’t,” Anderson added, laughing.

Of the KU-MU game, Anderson noted: “I didn’t go to any great lengths to tape. Tape itself (of the pay-per-view) is not flying around. Like I said we had practice during that game. You know … I’m the coach at Pittsburg State. I wish everybody well around the country. I did not get to see the game,” he added, politely closing discussion of that topic.

Anderson noted that he has plenty of tape on the Jayhawks — in fact all of KU’s games from the 2016-17 season.

“I don’t know if Bill (Self, KU coach) will roll out some new tricks or not,” Anderson said. “This is more about us playing in front of a crowd and hopefully playing well. I’m sure early on there will be some jitters, but it’s about us hopefully playing well and giving Kansas a game that will help them too as a basketball team.

“I’m always appreciative of schools that do this (play Division II opponents in preseason). There’s a financial part of it, but there’s also the opportunity for our guys to play on the big stage. I’ve got a lot of guys who have grown up and probably one of their dreams is to play in Allen Fieldhouse and now they get that opportunity. I’ll probably play a lot of guys and give them that opportunity.”

While he was head coach at Missouri Anderson coached against Malik Newman, who is now a sophomore at Kansas, when Newman played combo guard for Mississippi State.

“He’s a talented player,” Anderson said of Newman. “Devonté Graham is certainly a tremendous player. Obviously they have one of the best teams in the country. At this point of the season they are probably not as deep. They don’t really need to be deep. Eight or nine guys are playing.

“They have great size, great strength, great speed, ballhandling, shoot the ball well. It’ll be fun for us playing a team like that. I’m looking forward to it. As everyone knows I”m an old Missouri guy, and it’s a chance to come back to Allen Fieldhouse. I’ve always had a great respect for Kansas and their fans and the program.

“I plan on having a good time,” he added.

Anderson, who went 6-4 versus KU as a Tigers player — last visited Allen Fieldhouse on Dec. 4, 2002, when his first Central Missouri team fell to Roy Williams’ Jayhawks, 97-70.

“KU had a late cancellation. Something happened with their schedule. They asked if we could come over and play. It actually was a regular-season game,” said Anderson, who coached Central Missouri to a 274-95 record over 12 seasons. He won the NCAA Division II national championship at Central Missouri in 2014.

“I’m sure there was a significant difference in the point total,” Anderson added of the Central Missouri game versus KU. “It was a great experience for our guys, and the money we got from that game enabled us to help build a new locker room at Central Missouri. We were appreciative of that.”

Anderson — who played for legendary MU coach Norm Stewart and also worked on Stewart’s Tiger coaching staff for 11 seasons — said “the one thing Coach (Stewart) used to say was the (Allen Fieldhouse visitors) locker room was either left with the windows open in the winter and the snow would blow in or they’d shut the windows tight and turn the heat up. You felt like you wanted to take a nap. There are a lot of stories.”

Anderson said during his playing days he “loved playing at Allen FIeldhouse. Kansas has great basketball fans, obviously very passionate. They’ve maintained a level of success over many, many years.”

He offered a pair of memories involving games at Allen.

“If I had to pick a couple, probably the year Peeler scored 40-some points, my first year as an assistant. That obviously was a great memory,” Anderson said. MU guard Anthony Peeler exploded for 43 points in KU’s 98-89 victory over MU on March 8, 1992 in Allen.

“As a player … I was a senior back in ’76-77 (when he was co Big Eight player of year with Kansas State’s Mike Evans) I remember we had a fight and it spilled over to where the band was. It was Herb Nobles and Donnie Von Moore (of KU), me and Jim Kennedy (of MU) and I’m sure several others, too. We had a little disagreement.

“We probably lost that game (77-72 MU setback), but that was a great game. There have been a lot of great games over the years. I’m really looking forward to going there, seeing the renovations.”

Anderson said the most impressive thing about KU basketball right now … “is it 13 (conference titles) in a row Bill has won? Thirteen going on 14? That’s pretty tough to do. He’s obviously a Hall of Fame coach.”

Pitt State — the Gorillas have nine returning players and nine new players on the roster following a 5-22 season in 2016-17 — recently were picked to finish eighth out of 14 teams in the preseason Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletic Association coaches poll.

“I hope our guys will come in and play well and maybe learn some stuff from playing a team like Kansas,” said Anderson, who does have some major college height on the roster in 6-10 Deitrich Cole and 6-9 Jonathan Murray. “I think it’s a great opportunity.”

Anderson, by the way, loves his new job at Pitt State.

“There are great people here,” Anderson said. “I’m just a good ol’ guy from Pettis County down here coaching basketball in Pittsburg, Kan., having a good time and enjoying the experience. I’m enjoying my time here and looking forward to the start of the season.”

He was willing to conclude a 15-minute phone interview by fielding one final question about his alma mater and former employer, Missouri.

Will MU and KU ever play again in men’s basketball?

“You know what … here’s my answer? I just hope in two years that Pittsburg State and KU will play again, OK? I hope Bill continues this because what they do for other schools in the state is really special. I”m not touching that other one, man. I have no idea if Missouri and Kansas (are going to play),” he added with a laugh.

This story was originally published October 29, 2017 at 8:03 PM with the headline "Former Mizzou player, coach to bring Pitt State basketball team to KU on Tuesday."