FRESNO, Calif. (FOX26) — Cole Anderson broke Clovis West’s all-time scoring record on the hardwood, then played four years at UC Santa Barbara, before finding himself meeting one of his NBA idols.
That would be JJ Redick, head coach of the Los Angeles Lakers, who hosted Anderson in a private, pre-NBA Draft workout.
“He was asking me about Santa Barbara, asking about me as a player, just like a brief minute-and-a-half conversation,” Anderson said. “But it was awesome. I was like, ‘Man, I know you’re the head coach of the team, but I just have to tell you, I modeled my game after you.'”
Anderson, like Redick, hopes to carve his niche in the NBA as a 3-point specialist. He made a career-best 47.4% of his attempts from beyond the arc as a UCSB senior.
But the Fresno native understands that before reaching the NBA, he may spend some time in the G-League, the developmental league for the NBA.
“My main goal is to play in the G-League, just to stay in America,” Anderson said, “and the NBA Summer League is coming up, so I’d love to play in that, if I could get on a team.”
NBA teams are interested, and not just the Lakers. Anderson spent this past weekend working out for the Milwaukee Bucks.
“There’s a ton of good players out there, but I also reminded myself I can do this,” Anderson said. “I feel like a lot of guys don’t remind themselves of how long they’ve been playing basketball. and how hard they’ve worked.”
The product of Anderson’s hard work through Clovis West HS and UC Santa Barbara were a pair of pre-Draft workouts, which he did not take for granted.
Anderson stole a moment for himself at both Los Angeles and Milwaukee, to view himself in the mirror wearing Lakers and Bucks practice jerseys, perhaps motivating himself to one day wear them longer than an afternoon.
“Every basketball player watches the NBA and its players,” Anderson said. “Just being under the same roof that they work out under every day… is awesome.”