After leading his AAU team to a national runner-up finish in early July, Wayzata’s Nolen Anderson picked up the scholarship offer he had been waiting for from the Gophers.
It didn’t take long for Anderson to show how excited he was about the opportunity to stay home to play college basketball.
On Thursday, the 6-7 senior wing announced his commitment to new Gophers coach Niko Medved.
“When I told Niko he was pretty pumped and so was the rest of the staff,” Anderson told the Minnesota Star Tribune. “I’m excited. I can’t wait to get down there next year.”
Medved and assistant coach Dave Thorson watched Anderson’s breakout performance during D1 Minnesota 17U’s run to the Adidas 3SSB championship game in South Carolina. Anderson visited the U unofficially and started to build a relationship with the new coaching staff that has already established a strong local presence since Ben Johnson was fired in late March.
“The biggest thing is how invested they were in me and showing their interest in me,” Anderson said. “They were at every single one of my games [during the live recruiting period]. They were non-stop communicating with me and being honest and transparent with everything.”
Anderson, who also had offers from Virginia Tech, Drake, Illinois-Chicago, Montana, Northern Iowa, Ohio and Toledo, expanded his game this summer after being labeled as mostly a three-point shooter during his high school career. His ability to shoot, slash and score from all three levels was a tough matchup for opponents.
“My body and athleticism are probably the biggest things I improved,” Anderson said. “I’ve always shot it pretty well … wanted to keep getting better with that. And just tried to get more efficient with shot selection.”