When people search for “Kim Anderson coach,” they’re usually trying to piece together the story of a man whose name is stitched into the history of Missouri basketball at nearly every level. Kim Anderson isn’t a household name outside college hoops circles, but within Missouri, and within Division II basketball specifically, he’s a genuine legend. This article walks through his playing days, his coaching stops, his championship run, and what Kim Anderson coach’s doing today, so you get the full picture in one place.
Kim Anderson is a former Division II national champion and one-time head coach of the Missouri Tigers, with a coaching career that spans over four decades and multiple levels of the college game.
Who Is Kim Anderson?
Born May 12, 1955, in Sedalia, Missouri, Kim Anderson grew up in the same state where he’d eventually make his coaching mark. He stood 6-foot-7 and played small forward, first for Sedalia’s Smith-Cotton High School and later for the University of Missouri Tigers from 1973 to 1977.
As a player, Anderson was no bench-warmer. He helped Missouri win a Big Eight Conference title in 1976 under Hall of Fame coach Norm Stewart, and he capped his senior year as the Big Eight Player of the Year, averaging 18.3 points and 7.9 rebounds a game. He finished his college career with 1,289 points, a total that still ranks among the program’s best.
His playing career didn’t stop there. The Portland Trail Blazers picked him in the second round of the 1977 NBA draft, and the Milwaukee Bucks selected him again the following year in the seventh round of the 1978 NBA draft. He played 21 games in the NBA with Portland, then continued his career overseas in Italy and France before hanging up his sneakers in 1982.
Kim Anderson Basketball Coach: Building a Career From the Ground Up
Anderson didn’t jump straight into a head coaching chair. Like most successful coaches, he paid his dues as an assistant for close to two decades before ever running his own program. That patience shaped how he built teams later on: methodically, with an emphasis on culture and consistency rather than quick fixes.
The Assistant Coaching Years
Anderson’s coaching résumé as an assistant reads like a tour of Midwest basketball programs:
- 1982–1985: Graduate assistant at Missouri
- 1985–1991: Assistant at Baylor under Gene Iba
- 1991–1999: Top assistant back at Missouri under Norm Stewart
- Big 12 Conference: Three years as Assistant Commissioner for men’s basketball, overseeing officiating and the postseason tournament
That stretch under Stewart at Missouri mattered most. Anderson learned the program from the inside, understood its culture, and built relationships that would matter years later when the Tigers came calling for a head coach.
The Central Missouri Breakthrough
Anderson’s first real head coaching opportunity came at the University of Central Missouri in 2002, and it’s here that his coaching legacy was truly forged. Over 12 seasons, he built the Mules into a Division II powerhouse.
His record at Central Missouri: 274 wins and 95 losses, a .743 winning percentage that placed him among the top 10 winningest coaches in Division II history. Along the way, his teams captured six MIAA regular season titles and four MIAA Tournament titles, plus three trips to the NCAA Division II Final Four.
The high point came in 2014, when Central Missouri beat West Liberty 84-77 to win the NCAA Division II national championship. That season, Kim Anderson coach was named the NABC national coach of the year after going 30-5, an especially impressive feat because his roster returned only one player who had averaged more than 4.7 points per game the prior season.
Kim Anderson at Missouri: A Homecoming With a Rough Ending
On April 28, 2014, just weeks after winning the Division II title, Missouri hired Kim Anderson coach as the 18th head coach in program history, replacing Frank Haith. It was billed as a homecoming: an alumnus, a former Stewart assistant, and a proven winner taking over his alma mater.
The results, unfortunately, didn’t follow the script. Missouri’s roster was thin and unsettled when Anderson arrived, and the rebuild never gained traction:
| Season | Overall Record | SEC Record |
|---|---|---|
| 2014–15 | 9–23 | 3–15 |
| 2015–16 | 10–21 | 3–15 |
| 2016–17 | 8–24 | Not applicable (final season) |
After three seasons and a combined record of 27 wins and 68 losses, Missouri asked Anderson to step down in March 2017. Athletic director Jim Sterk acknowledged the difficulty of the decision, noting the lack of on-court success had led to a significant drop in interest around the program. Anderson, for his part, called Missouri “a special institution” to him and his family and said he was grateful for the chance to coach there.
It’s worth noting that Anderson inherited a program that had already lost seven of its last eight games the season before he arrived, and had almost no returning scoring punch. That doesn’t erase the losing record, but it does add useful context for anyone comparing his time at Missouri to his run at Central Missouri.
Life After Missouri: Pittsburg State
Anderson didn’t disappear from coaching after leaving Missouri. In April 2017, he took over as head coach at Pittsburg State University, another MIAA program and a rival of his old Central Missouri squads.
At Pittsburg State, Anderson steadied a struggling program relatively quickly, guiding the Gorillas to a 17-13 record in his debut season, a 12-game improvement from the year before. He coached there through the 2021-22 season, closing out a long and varied career that touched nearly every level of college basketball short of the NBA sidelines.
Kim Anderson Coach Career Snapshot
For readers who just want the highlights at a glance, here’s how Anderson’s coaching stops break down:
| Program | Role | Years | Notable Achievement |
|---|---|---|---|
| Missouri | Graduate assistant | 1982–1985 | Learned under Norm Stewart |
| Baylor | Assistant | 1985–1991 | Coached under Gene Iba |
| Missouri | Top assistant | 1991–1999 | Big Eight/Big 12 success |
| Central Missouri | Head coach | 2002–2014 | 2014 D-II national champion |
| Missouri | Head coach | 2014–2017 | 27-68 record |
| Pittsburg State | Head coach | 2017–2022 | Rebuilt a struggling program |
Frequently Asked Questions About Kim Anderson
Is Kim Anderson still coaching? No. His most recent head coaching post was at Pittsburg State, where he coached through the 2021-22 season. He hasn’t held a head coaching position since.
What is Kim Anderson’s career coaching record? Combining his time at Central Missouri and Pittsburg State, Anderson’s collegiate head coaching record stood at roughly 357 wins and 218 losses, a .621 winning percentage, entering his fifth season at Pitt State. His three seasons at Missouri, where he went 27-68, are the clear outlier in an otherwise winning career.
Did Kim Anderson play in the NBA? Yes, briefly. He played 21 games for the Portland Trail Blazers during the 1978-79 season after being drafted in 1977, then continued his playing career professionally in Italy and France.
Why did Kim Anderson leave Missouri? Missouri asked him to step down in 2017 after three losing seasons. The program’s overall record under Anderson was 27-68, and while he inherited a difficult rebuilding situation, the results didn’t turn around quickly enough for the university.
What is Kim Anderson best known for? Most college basketball fans associate him with the 2014 NCAA Division II national championship he won at Central Missouri, a season that also earned him NABC National Coach of the Year honours.
Is Kim Anderson related to any other well-known Andersons in basketball? No documented family connection exists between Kim Anderson and other prominent basketball figures who share the surname. He’s often confused with other Kim Andersons in sports media, so it’s worth double-checking which one an article is referring to.
Final Thoughts
Kim Anderson’s coaching story doesn’t fit neatly into a single narrative. He’s a Division II champion, a Big Eight all-conference player, and Kim Anderson coach who struggled badly at the highest level of college basketball before rebuilding his reputation one more time at Pittsburg State. Judge him only by his Missouri tenure and you’d miss most of the picture. Judge him by his full body of work, and you get a coach who spent more than 40 years around the game, won at nearly every stop except the one that mattered most to him personally, and never stopped competing.
If you’re researching Kim Anderson coach for a school project, a fan debate, or simple curiosity about Missouri basketball history, hopefully this gives you the complete, accurate picture you were looking for. Feel free to bookmark this page and check back if you want updates on where his coaching journey goes next.
