It was at Carleton where Anderson feels that he turned a corner as a basketball player. Under renowned coach Dave Smart, Anderson thrived. 

“I think that playing there prepared me extremely well,” Anderson said. “(Coach Smart) was a character to say the least. He brings his passion to all facets of the game and you can feel that. I feel like I took some of that passion and have tried to run with it. He taught me how to compete at a high level and I’m going to carry that through my pro career.”

As a rookie, Anderson knows that he has to work hard to carve out a role on a team of veteran professional basketball players. As he understands it, “Whatever job coach needs me to do in my first year, I’ll try and do that job as best as possible. (I know that since) there’s a main group of guys from last year, I have to work my way into a spot to help my team.”

One way that he can make an immediate impact is on the defensive end where he was one of the nation’s best perimeter defenders at the university level.

“My defense has been a staple of mine during my basketball career. I always have the mindset of ‘I have to stop whoever is in front of me.’ I think that’s what I bring to the team. I pride myself on defense. That’s my bread and butter,” Anderson said.

Due to COVID-19 and the subsequent quarantine, Anderson’s Nighthawks debut arrives later than expected. Had the CEBL season begun as originally scheduled in May, the 2020 campaign would be in full swing, but instead Anderson found himself practicing his shot on outdoor courts and conducting workouts in a makeshift home gym in preparation for training camp. He admitted that on some of his runs through Brampton, he’ll even hop on the monkey bars for some body weight workouts “as long as nobody is around.”

With the Summer Series set to tip off on July 25th, Anderson couldn’t be more excited to put on the Nighthawks jersey and finally play. 

“As soon as we got some communication about the season starting up we all hopped into the group chat and set up meetings to get prepared,” Anderson recalled. “I like how the Nighthawks organization is really prepared and their media team has done a good job. Nothing gets overlooked. Coaching has strong leadership with Charles Kissi—I know that they made a change halfway through last year—and he has really been wrapping stuff up. I’m just excited to get playing.”

Even though the Nighthawks are coming off of a disappointing 6-14 inaugural season, there is plenty of optimism heading into the Summer Series, which begins Saturday, July 25. Thanks to a strong core of returning veterans that are complemented by some key offseason pick-ups, the Nighthawks are poised to have a strong season under Charles Kissi’s first full campaign as head coach. 

“I expect us to win,” Anderson said. “When I step on the court I just want to win. We will compete every game. That’s pretty much it.”

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