Position: Guard/Forward
Class/Experience: Freshman/HS
Height: 6-8 1/2
Weight: 221
Hometown: Long Beach, Calif.
High School: Long Beach Poly HS
 

General: Another sophomore who will be counted on for more production in 1... Can play either the two or three spot... Coaches like to use him at the two guard because his height can present match-up problems... Hit the weights hard in the off-season and was able to put on much needed weight and added strength... Is up to 220 pounds now... Will need to be more consistent with his shot this year... Good passer who has a nice feel for the game... Coaches think he is one of the hardest workers on the team... Was one of the six recruits to sign with the Cats in fall of 1998... His letter of intent pushed the 1998 UA recruiting class towards the top of most recruiting analyst's rankings.. Changed his number from 22 to 35 in the offseason.

1998-99 (Freshman): Played in every game but three (at UCLA , at Washington, Arizona State) and started five games at the two-guard position... Averaged 2.6 ppg and 1.9 rpg... Best game of the season was versus Oregon State in Tucson when he scored a career-high 14 points, while playing a career-best 26 minutes... Was 4-of-8 from the field and 2-of-5 from the three-point line... Also had two steals and three rebounds... Earned his first start of his career at Oregon State at the two-guard... Responded with four points, but only played 16 minutes due to foul trouble... Grabbed four boards in the contest as well... Earned the start because of his work ethic... Also started the next game against third-ranked Stanford in McKale Center and scored five points to go with two rebounds and three assists in the win over the third-ranked Cardinal... Handed out a career-best four assists in the final game of the regular season against UCLA... A then-season 20 minutes came in the Holy Cross game, when he went for a then-career-best 11 points... Was 4-of-6 from the field... 2-of-4 from the 3PT line and had six rebounds... Injured his wrist against UC-Irvine and only played four minutes as a result... Was able to play the next game against Iowa State and logged 14 minutes, scoring six points to go with four boards and two blocked shots.

High School: Prepped at Long Beach Poly High School... Team MVP as a sophomore, junior and senior... As a senior, he was named the Moore League MVP after leading his team to a 25-4 record and averaging 22.7 ppg, 12 rpg 4 apg and 4 bpg... Played for head coach Ron Palmer... First team All-Moore League all three years of high school... First team All-CIF in his senior and junior years... As a junior, his team won the CIF championship and finished 29-3... That season, he averaged 20.5 ppg, 11 rpg and 3 bpg and as a sophomore, he went for 19.5 ppg, 9 rpg and 3 apg... Was ranked as the sixth-best player in the Long Beach Press Telegram's Best of the West poll. Participated in the Double Pump Classic (California State All-Star Basketball Game) with another incoming UA freshman, Ruben Douglas... Nominated for the McDonald's All-American team... Also played golf in high school...

Personal: Ricky J. Anderson... Prefers to go by the name of Rick... Born 8-10-79 in Long Beach, Calif... Son of Gary and Kathy Anderson... Father currently teaches at Long Beach Community College... Father played for Lute Olson at Long Beach City College in the early 1970s... Olson has never coached a former player's son until now... Brother, Rob, plays on the Arizona golf team... His father was the head coach at Long Beach City College before taking a sabbatical in 1997-98... Has a sister who plays volleyball at Long Beach Millikan High School... Uncle, Ed Anderson, played baseball at Arizona and lettered in 1973... Enjoys golf, surfing, playing the guitar, ping pong and fishing... Still searching for the ultimate wave... Undecided in choice of college major... In the second grade, he was an eight-year old who was 4-foot-10 and played on the fifth/sixth grade basketball team... In a newspaper feature that was written about him when he was eight, he said it was his dream to grow to be "6-foot-9 and be like Larry Bird"... Father is 6-foot-5 and mother is 6-foot-1.

Anderson's Career Statistics

Season   G-GS Min. FG-FGA Pct. 3Pt. Pct. FT-FTA Pct. OR/DR Tot./Avg. Ast. St. Blk. TO PF-DQ Pts.-Avg.
1998-99 26-5  261  24-69  .348 8-28 .286 12-16 .750  13/36   49/1.9  23    5   9   30 30-0    68-2.6

Season  G-GS Min. FG-FGA Pct. 3Pt. Pct. FT-FTA Pct. OR/DR Tot./Avg. Ast. St. Blk. TO PF-DQ Pts.-Avg.
1998-99 1-0   3    0-1   .000 0-1  .000  0-0   .000  0/0     0/0.0   0   0    0    0  0-0     0-0.0