‘If there were a Mr. Beaver, it was Jimmy Anderson’

Jimmy Anderson (courtesy Bob Hanks)

Updated 3/13/2024 7:20 PM, 3/15/2023 4:40 AM

As a head coach at Oregon State, Jimmy Anderson didn’t win as many games as Slats Gill or Ralph Miller or even Wayne Tinkle. Anderson wasn’t an iconic figure as were Gary Payton or Mel Counts or Steve Johnson.

But when you speak about a name synonymous with Beaver basketball, look no further — Jimmy is the man.

Anderson, who died on Monday in Corvallis, came to Oregon State as a sophomore guard in 1956. Aside from two years coaching at Newberg High, he never left.

Oh, Jimmy retired in 1995 after a so-so six-year stint as OSU’s head coach. But he was always around, attending practices and games coached by successors Eddie Payne, Ritchie McKay, Jay John, Craig Robinson and Tinkle.

Anderson, who would have turned 87 on April 20, is most well-known as the assistant coach who recruited the talent that made Miller a big winner during his 19 years at Oregon State. Miller had other assistants — notably Dave Leach, Lanny Van Eman and Steve Seidler — but Jimmy was the bird dog and lead recruiter in many cases. Jimmy was an assistant coach at OSU for 28 years under Gill, Paul Valenti and Miller.

His greatest season as a head coach was his first, which was Gary Payton’s senior year. Oregon State went 22-7 overall and won the Pac-10 with a 15-3 record. Anderson was named Pac-10 Coach of the Year.

Gary Payton and Jimmy Anderson (courtesy Dave Nishitani)

But his greatest legacy was his allegiance to Oregon State and the relationships he built along the way.

“I don’t think anybody bled orange and black like Coach Anderson,” says Eric Knox, a four-year starter at guard for the Beavers from 1985-89.

“If there were ever a Mr. Beaver, it’s Jimmy,” says Steve Seidler, a member of Miller’s coaching staff from 1980-87.

“It’s a very sad day, not only for his immediate family but for Beaver Nation,” says Lester Conner, a key cog on the “Orange Express” teams from 1980-82. “Jimmy stood for everything Oregon State. He lived and died it — going to baseball games in the rain, supporting the football team, watching basketball practices. He was everywhere for the school he loved.”

Anderson with forward Teo Alibegovic (courtesy Dave Nishitani)

And now Anderson is gone, 68 years after he first became a Beaver. He was the final remaining link to the namesake of Gill Coliseum, to the days of the Pacific Coast Conference, the Far West Classic and the traditions that have faded away since the 1950s.

“He is the last of that era,” says Johnson, the center for the “Orange Express” who once held the NCAA single-season record for field-goal percentage. “What he represents has been missed in Corvallis for a long time.”

“Jimmy was the last vestige of that old guard,” says Mark Radford, another star on the “Orange Express” teams of the early ‘80s.

And through his life, a very popular person, indeed, with those around him.

“One of a kind,” says Mel Counts, center on Oregon State’s 1963 Final Four team. “Just a wonderful person to be around. He was like a magnet. He had a gift. One of my all-time favorite people.”

“I can’t think of anybody who was more liked than Jimmy,” says Dave Gambee, who played two seasons with Anderson in the late 1950s. “I don’t expect I’ll ever run into anybody who has much bad to say about Jimmy.”

Jimmy and Fifi were married for 62 years. They had four children — Steve, Jeff, Kelly and Jill — 13 grandchildren and two great grandchildren. Then there was the extended family.

The Anderson clan (courtesy Anderson family)

“For four years, you were a member of the OSU basketball team,” says Jeff Stoutt, a sharpshooting guard in the early 1980s. “ But you also became a part of the Jimmy Anderson family for life.”

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I reached out to many of the men who played for him and coached alongside Anderson for perspective. Most of the players were recruited by him, but not Terry Baker, a guard on the 1963 Final Four team and the 1962 Heisman Trophy winner in football. Anderson was still in college, a 5-11 senior guard on the basketball team, when Baker was a senior at Jefferson High in 1958-59.

“He was just four years older than me,” Baker says. “Jimmy married Fifi, who was in my class at Oregon State. She’s a sweetheart.

Jimmy and Fifi Anderson were married 62 years (courtesy Anderson family)

“I remember watching him play. He was a defensive specialist. That was his forte. He was good at it. He had Dave Gambee and Lee Harmon and Ken Nanson on the team Jimmy’s junior year. They had plenty of firepower.”

It was a different era of recruiting. There were no NCAA regulations. Baker was recruited by Oregon State for basketball first, not football. Gill got help from a benefactor named Ken Crookham. Terry was the product of a broken home, living with his mother. An older brother, Gary, was already at Oregon State.

“I saw virtually all the home games of Oregon State my senior year in high school,” Baker recalls. “Slats had Ken take care of me. He was an older gentleman. He would pick me up from practice at Jeff and drive us down to watch the basketball games. He became like family. He would take my mother and me out to dinner now and then.

“When I got the Heisman, I didn’t own a suit. Ken told me to go into Phil Small’s and get a suit. First time I’d ever worn one.”

Anderson coached Baker’s freshman basketball team.

“We had a great team,” Baker says. “We lost one game. It was a fun year, maybe the most fun I had playing basketball. Jimmy was an easy-going guy. Valenti was a yeller and screamer. When I dribbled the ball off my foot out of bounds, I don’t need anybody to yell and scream at me. I got lucky on that. Slats had a heart attack and Paul took over, or he would have been my freshman coach.”

Counts was a year behind Baker. The 7-foot All-American, who played on the 1964 U.S. gold medal-winning Olympic team, was recruited by Anderson. Counts knew Anderson had been a quarterback in high school in Hoquiam, Wash.

“A pretty darn good one, too,” says Counts, who would go on to a 12-year NBA career that included six trips to the NBA Finals, winning twice with the Boston Celtics. “After his senior season, the high school football coach went to Washington State to be an assistant and wanted Jimmy to go with him. But Jimmy was only 135 pounds. He made the right decision to go play basketball at Oregon State.”

Like Baker, Counts remembers watching Anderson play.

“He was one of the best defensive guards I’ve ever seen play the game,” Counts says. “Slats put him on the second team the first year. He had to work his way up. Walt Torrence was a big scorer for UCLA, and Jimmy held him to four points in a Beaver win (in 1958). He just took him. Jimmy was quick. He was a tenacious competitor. He’d get in your face.”

Counts remained a close friend of Anderson throughout his life.

“He not only taught the skills, but a lot of life lessons,” Counts says, “He wasn’t outspoken or a look-at-me type of guy. He was a strong Catholic who loved his faith and showed what it was like to be a man by example. He hardly ever said a bad word about anybody.”

Gambee played two years of varsity ball with Anderson.

“Jimmy was a fine player,” says Gambee, a 6-6 forward who played a dozen years in the NBA, winning a title with Philadelphia in 1967. “Very competitive. Very aggressive defensively. Hated to lose. He was an excellent teammate. He was a team player, that’s what he was.”

Anderson was also coach for the 1961-62 freshman team led by Jim Jarvis, Frank Peters and Jim Kraus, who would become starters on the ’63 Final Four team.

“We lost one game and beat the varsity in two scrimmage sessions,” Peters says. “Jimmy was only a few years older than us. After college, we played together on Claudia’s AAU team. He was tricky. He beat me a couple of times (one-on-one) when I thought I was better than him.

“What a sweetheart he was as a coach. Slats was old-school, coming from the era of two-handed set shots and underhand free throws. Jimmy could better relate to us. He was an absolute delight to play for. He made sure to give us a reality check of life in college basketball. He made us understand we weren’t in high school anymore.

“He would listen to you and empathize with you. He wasn’t trying to put his program on you; he was really trying to understand you. He had patience and a quality that you trusted him and you felt better whenever you got to spend time with him. He made everything better. He was as good as it gets.”

Anderson was playing for Claudia’s when Ed Fredenberg was a member of the OSU Rooks. They banged heads in one violent collision.

“I broke my front tooth,” says Fredenberg, the 6-6 center who later helped Valenti’s Beavers claim the Pac-8 title and make the Elite Eight in 1966. “Since I was 19 years old, I’ve had a false tooth courtesy of Jimmy Anderson.”

Fredenberg laughs, then adds, “Not that I held it against him. As a coach, Jimmy was very upbeat, constantly encouraging us. He was an outgoing guy who everybody got along with.”

Loy Peterson was a 6-5 forward who was leading scorer as a sophomore on the ’66 team. Anderson was of big help at the other end of the court.

“Jimmy taught me how to play defense,” Peterson says. “He was a great mentor to me, not just in basketball but in teaching me about life. I’ll tell you another thing. He was one of the greatest competitors I have ever known. He wanted desperately to win. He didn’t want to lose.”

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In 1970, Valenti retired and Miller was hired — chosen over Anderson, even then considered a long-time assistant.

“Jimmy thought he was going to get the job,” says Ron Jones, who was in Miller’s first recruiting class and played from 1971-74. “I’m sure he was disappointed when they hired Ralph. But he came around quickly and did a great job for Ralph. He had the self-confidence and ability to be loyal and do a great job as an assistant. Even then he was a Beaver through and through.”

“Going from Paul to Ralph was quite a change for Jimmy in a lot of ways, particularly on the offensive side,” says Jarvis, who helped coach the Rooks during Miller’s first year after playing two seasons in the old ABA.

“He fought that a little bit at first, but wound up being a big believer in Ralph’s system. When he became a head coach, he incorporated more of Ralph’s philosophies than Paul’s or Slats’. To Jimmy’s credit, he was willing to change.”

For the first decade of the Miller regime, Anderson was on a staff that included Dave Leach, who had played for Miller at Wichita State and been an assistant for him at Iowa.

“We had a real good working relationship,” Leach says. “We played a lot of racquetball and golf together and played city league basketball together. He was very likable.

“When we first came, my assignment was to teach Ralph’s methods to our players. Ralph wanted Jimmy to recruit. He had been pretty darn good at it before we got there. He had all these connections all over the place on the West Coast. That was his bailiwick.”

Jones, Doug Oxsen and Steve Ericksen were in Miller’s recruiting class. Anderson was the primary recruiter of all three.

“I admired him,” Jones says. “Ralph said he wanted the five toughest defensive players on the court. That was right up Jimmy’s alley. He loved the toughness on defense. He became kind of our defensive coach.”

Anderson thought up something unique in his recruitment of the then 6-10, 190-pound Oxsen from Walnut Creek, Calif.

“My high school coach had gone to school with Jimmy at Oregon State,” Oxsen says. “Jimmy coordinated my recruiting trip to Corvallis for my official visit. It was my first airplane trip. I wound up taking a helicopter from Oakland to San Francisco, where I caught a plane to fly up to Eugene.

“I came to Oregon State to play for Ralph, but my decision was also influenced by Jimmy, because he was committed to the program and what he felt it could accomplish. Jimmy was always supportive of my academics, too. He expected you to give 100 percent on the court, but also in the classroom.”

And, says Oxsen, “He was so loyal. He lived and breathed Oregon State.”

Tim Hennessy played at Oregon State from 1973-76 and stayed in Corvallis as a businessman after graduation. Hennessy was recruited by Anderson, but it was after they were both adults that they became close friends. Anderson was godfather for Tim’s first son, Clancy.

“Jimmy was my mentor, my coach, a very good friend,” Hennessy says. “He taught me three things in life at Oregon State: Always believe in God, tell the truth and work hard. Those were his three mottos. I loved his smile. I loved his loyalty. I was blessed to spend quality time with him through the years.”

Paul Miller came along in 1972.

“I’ve always admired that he coached under three different styles,” says Paul, a sharpshooting 6-8 forward recruited by Anderson out of San Luis Obispo, Calif. “You have to be a pretty good coach to be successful in three systems.

“Jimmy was defensive-minded as a coach. He was also very approachable. Ralph wasn’t the kind of coach you talked to much. If you had something going on, you’d talk to Jimmy or Dave. Ralph wasn’t going to put his arm around you and console you. Jimmy was an excellent liaison between Ralph and the players.”

One Saturday practice during Paul’s freshman year, Ralph was gone so Anderson ran the practice.

“We were scrimmaging,” Miller says. “I guess I thought I was pretty hot stuff. I started complaining because I was getting fouled. I said a few choice words. Jimmy said, ‘You can head right to a locker room.’ The one and only time I got thrown out of practice, it was by Jimmy, and I deserved it.”

Seidler came on as a grad assistant in 1980.

“I was 25,” he says. “Jimmy showed me the ropes. He taught me a lot. We all scouted. Jimmy was the lead recruiter, and he was perfect for that. Jimmy had one of those personalities when you walked into the room, you were drawn to him. He drew a crowd.”

Seidler and Lanny Van Eman, who coached from 1980-88, came on for the greatest era ever of Beaver basketball. From the time Johnson, Radford and Ray Blume were juniors in 1979-80 through Anderson’s first year as head coach in 1989-90, Oregon State had nine 20-win seasons and another that went 19-11 and won five Pac-10 championships or co-championships.

Anderson was the lead recruiter on those three players, plus Conner, Charlie Sitton, AC Green, Jose Ortiz and Payton. He forged tight bonds with each.

“Ralph was the architect, and Jimmy’s job was to go out and get the pieces,” says Johnson, who attended a Seventh Day Adventist School in San Bernardino, Calif., and played one high school season of basketball. “He did an incredible job of seeing things in players that ended up being key people on our team. I don’t know how many other people saw it.

“Look at Mark and Ray. One was a forward and one was a center. Those guys ended up being two of the top guards in the country. Jimmy saw something in them that fit Ralph’s system. He saw something in me after watching one tape. He saw this 6-10,180-pound skinny kid slinging hook shots and said, ‘That’s going to be the centerpiece of our offense.’ Then he went out and got Lester for the point of our full-court trap against which you knew you were going to have a long day.”

“Jimmy got me to where I am to this day,” says Blume, who played one season with the Chicago Bulls. “He picked me up as a high school center (at Parkrose) and turned me into an All-America guard. I owe him a lot.”

Blume’s father left the family when Ray was five.

“Jimmy was like the father I didn’t have,” says Blume, echoing a thought expressed by many OSU players through the Anderson years. “I had a couple of male mentors growing up, but in the end, Jimmy was the man. He pretty much played that role with most of the kids who came through college during my time in Corvallis. His door was always open. After I got out of college, some of the players still there were going to leave. He talked to them and worked with them and they ended up doing great things.

“As I got older, I had some struggles in life. I called Jimmy a few times and he helped me through them. He and his family were great to me.”

Anderson recruited Conner out of Chabot JC in Hayward, Calif. The 6-4 “Lester the Molester” was a terrific defender who was Pac-10 Player of the Year in 1981-82 in leading the Beavers to the Elite Eight. At Chabot, he was getting nationwide recruiting attention from the likes of Jerry Tarkanian at UNLV and Lute Olson at Iowa.

“Jimmy was persistent,” says Conner, who played 12 years in the NBA and served as an assistant coach in the NBA for 17 more. “Everybody asked, ‘Who is that short, white, Barney Rubble-looking dude running around here?’ I said, ‘That’s the coach from Oregon State.’ My JC coach sat me down with this numeric system of pluses and minuses, and Oregon State kept coming out on top.

“I wouldn’t have gone there if not for Jimmy. Once I got there, he was like a father to me. He meant everything to me. He was just a very special guy.”

Anderson beat out Washington for the services of Radford.

“During the recruiting process, the guy was everywhere,” Radford says with a laugh. “He would be at my track meets, would come to my basketball games and practices. He was there all the time. I don’t know how he did it.”

Radford calls the Miller/Anderson coaching effect “Good cop, bad cop.”

“Jimmy was the balance for us with Ralph,” says Radford, who played two NBA seasons with Seattle. “He was the day-to-day, nuts-and-bolts coach in terms of communicating Ralph’s needs to us in a softer tone. During practice, Ralph might come out and blow off some steam, and then Jimmy would go back to running the show.

“Jimmy was honest and fair. He was always positive, there for you. I felt like he was always as concerned for my well-being as my basketball. He was wonderful to play for.”

Johnson calls Miller and Anderson “coaching opposites.”

“Both great in their own right,” Johnson says. “Ralph was a cold-blooded realist, your feelings be damned. Jimmy was the person who everyone turned to for more than just basketball. He cared about the players. Ralph cared about the players, too, but he wanted the best out of you, period. There were many times I’d end up over at Jimmy’s house for a meal or to just hang out. I was kind of like part of the family.

“That’s the side of Jimmy that bled Beaver orange and black. Very competitive, but a personable side that players would gravitate to.”

Johnson laughs as he tells a story that involves Anderson. Oregon State won at Pauley Pavilion his senior season in 1981, the Beavers’ first road win over UCLA since 1957.

“They took me out late in the game, and I walked to the bench and pointed to my big ass,” Johnson says, an indication the Pauley faithful could kiss it. “Jimmy got up and said, ‘Steve, we gotta come back here.’ I said, ‘I don’t.’ ”

Charlie Sitton was wiry thin but Miller’s type of player, and the 6-8 forward out of McMinnville stepped in and started all four years from 1980-84. He adapted quickly to the coaching system at OSU.

“Ralph was the heavy-handed guy,” says Sitton, who played one NBA season with the Dallas Mavericks. “You knew Jimmy had a soft heart and would pat you on the back. Ralph’s door was open, too, but he was pretty intimidating for most of us.

“By the time you got to be juniors and seniors you had thicker skin and knew he was normal. The first two years, Jimmy was the guy you leaned on. He was such a good guy to be there when Ralph was chewing your tail.”

AC Green was being pursued by Washington State, but Anderson convinced him to sign with Oregon State out of Benson Tech.

“Coach Anderson saw more in me than I saw in myself,” says Green, who played at OSU from 1981-85 and was Pac-10 Player of the Year as a junior. “He saw the potential to be a hero when I thought more like I was a zero. I will always be grateful for that.”

Asked for his thoughts about Anderson, Green pauses for several seconds.

“I think of family,” says Green, who would go to play 16 NBA seasons, win three titles with the LA Lakers and set the NBA record for most consecutive regular-season games. “Caring. Competitor. A winner. He enjoyed seeing his people have success. He was as proud of my accomplishments over the years as were my own parents. He would always check in and have a kind word to say. He was that kind of guy. He was definitely a father figure to me.

“If players had something to say, it would go through Coach Anderson. They would lean more to him for understanding. He would help make Coach Miller make sense to us, to understand his demands, his requirements, his likes and dislikes. Coach Anderson made things make a lot of sense. They were a perfect complement to one another.”

Knox grew up in Playa del Ray, Calif., and attended St. Bernard’s Catholic High.

“I’d hated Oregon State as a kid,” Knox says. “I rooted for the Bruins in basketball and the Trojans in football. Oregon State beat us quite a bit, and it ticked me off. When Jimmy showed up to recruit me, I was a little hesitant. But I found out who he was, what he believed in, and that he believed in me.”

For Knox, it came down to USC, Long Beach State and Oregon State.

“LA was just too close to home,” Knox says. “My mom was like, ‘You ain’t going to graduate if you stay here.’ I called Jimmy and asked if that scholarship was still available. I was kind of hoping he’d say no. At first, I didn’t want to come to Corvallis. Jimmy brought me there, and I’ll be forever grateful.

“Paul Miller picked me up at the airport. We dropped my bags off at Wilson Hall and I met Jimmy down at Dixon Rec Center. Then we were off to the races.”

Knox was good enough to start as a freshman in 1985-86. By the time he was a senior, he was backcourt mate with Payton on a team that went 22-8 and made the NCAA Tournament. By then, he had grown used to his coaches.

“Ralph and Jimmy complemented each other,” Knox says. “Ralph was tough; Jimmy was tender. I loved Ralph, but he was harsh. Jimmy knew how to get your confidence to where it needed to be in order to play in Ralph’s system. Ralph bent metal, and sometimes broke metal, with his words. Jimmy had that warmth. He knew how to bend you to amalgamate into Ralph’s system.

“Jimmy made you feel like you were an All-American. He was always excited to see you, to watch you play. You’ve heard that saying, ‘Whatever you pay attention to grows’? That’s what made him unique. He was unwavering in his commitment to you after you got on campus, and he made you believe in yourself. I wouldn’t have had the same career I had without Jimmy.”

During Knox’s sophomore season, Miller missed a Far West Classic game against Louisiana Tech due to illness. Anderson coached the Beavers in a shocking 83-76 loss.

“Afterward, I said something about missing Ralph to a reporter, and it ran in the newspaper the next day,” Knox says. “The next morning, Jimmy came to my room, and I realized I’d made a big mistake. He lovingly let me know how disappointed he was for indirectly blaming him for the loss. It broke my heart because of who he was as a man. I never wanted to disappoint him that way. When Jimmy loved you, he loved you hard.”

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Miller retired after the 1988-89 season and Anderson took over. Payton was the driver of the 1989-90 team, Sports Illustrated National Player of the Year and a first-team All-American. The No. 2 scorer was forward Earl Martin, like Payton a senior.

“When I heard that he had died, the first thing I thought of was a big thank you to Jimmy and gratitude for the opportunity he gave me at Oregon State,” Martin says. “I’ll never forget him coming down to LA and recruiting me out of Carson High. I’d look up in the stands and see him sitting there in that bright orange sweater. I was proud to have him up there watching me.

“Jimmy was definitely one of the reasons I came to Oregon State. Ralph was a great coach, but Jimmy was a necessary buffer at times. Before you could feel Ralph’s wrath, Jimmy would catch it and fill you in on what was needed.”

Martin laughs when I ask if Anderson changed when he became a head coach.

“We thought he was intense as an assistant,” he says. “He took it up another notch as the head coach. We had a great year, a fun year. In the beginning, nobody knew how he’d be, but we were pretty confident. We had plenty coming back. And he toned it down once we got going.

“Jimmy was genuine. Very likable. Easy to build a relationship. I’m glad I got to play for him.”

Charles McKinney, out of Wilson High, was a freshman during Anderson’s first season as a head coach and played at OSU from 1989-93, starting the last two seasons at guard.

“I loved Coach Anderson,” McKinney says. “When he recruited me, I knew there was something special about him. I had given Oregon State first consideration from Day One while Coach Miller was there, and none of that changed when (Anderson) took over. I totally loved playing for him. He reminded me to some degree of my high school coach, Dick Beachell — a fatherly figure who genuinely cared about his players and wanted us to succeed both on and off the court.”

McKinney recalls a game during his freshman year. Anderson called a timeout.

“Everybody was waiting for him to say what he was going to say,” McKinney says. “I’m thinking he’s going to draw something up. All he said was, ‘Gary, will you save us?’ ”

McKinney was the Beavers’ captain as a senior.

“Coach Anderson trusted me,” he says. “He gave me a leadership role. I did everything I could to be the best Beaver I could. I wouldn’t have changed things at all. I loved every single moment at Oregon State, and Coach Anderson had a lot to do with that.”

Another Wilson product, Pat Strickland, played with McKinney at OSU for Charles’ final two seasons. Strickland, also a guard, transferred from Salem’s Chemeketa CC.

“I had one D-I offer, to Central Connecticut,” Strickland says. “I didn’t want to go that far from home. I had meetings with Coach Anderson. He said most likely they would have a scholarship pop up after a term. He invited me to walk on. I could come in and fight for that position.”

Strickland earned it his first season in Corvallis and played a backup role.

“Coach Anderson believed in me,” he says. “I always cherish that. He was a great dude, passionate about the game of basketball and his players. He was a players’ coach, engaging, easy to talk to, down to earth. He wasn’t a screamer. I loved playing for Coach Anderson.”

Many of Anderson’s players turned to coaching as a profession.

“Jimmy helped me get my first coaching and teaching job at Grant High in Sacramento to start my career,” says Jones, who enjoyed a long career as a high school coach that ended at Barlow.

“He was a great influence on me along with my coach at Wilson, Dick Beachell, and at Chemeketa, Rob Chavez,” says Strickland, who has coached Jefferson to five state titles in 15 years as a head coach. “I build some of my philosophy around Coach Anderson, especially his defense. He was instrumental in getting me into coaching.”

Knox has coached girls prep basketball for 20 years. In 11 years at Benson, he has won a state title and eight straight PIL crowns.

“When I was coaching at Madison, Jimmy randomly showed up to watch me coach,” Knox says. “That meant a lot. I always felt like he saw something in me that was unique that gave me that kind of confidence I needed moving forward as a coach.”

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One thing nobody doubted was how Anderson felt about the rivals 40 miles to the south.

“There were several instances where his competitiveness and his toughness would come out,” Radford says. “That was always Civil War week.”

“Words can’t describe,” Hennessy says. “He absolutely could not stand the Ducks.”

“Paul Valenti used to say, ‘Once a busher, always a busher,’ ” Counts says. “That’s what he thought of the Ducks. Jimmy followed that line of thinking.”

“When it was time to play the Ducks, he’d get all fired up,” Blume says. “He sure didn’t like them. He’d be yelling and screaming and getting us fired up. After that he’d be back to normal.”

“Civil War time was crazy,” Martin says. “He was so intense that week leading up to the game. The red in his cheeks … you saw smoke coming from his collar.”

“If he felt like we weren’t taking it serious enough, he had a different gear,” Radford says. “He was one way 99 percent of the time until we played the Ducks. His whole demeanor would change. The rest of the time he was warm and fuzzy.”

“Jimmy’s competitiveness came out for the Civil War,” Sitton says. “He’d been in that rivalry for years. Played city league against their guys. He’d always do the scouting report for the Civil War games. You knew it was a different type of attitude when we rolled in there on Monday or Tuesday for the first scouting report. Jimmy would get red-faced talking about the Ducks. And by the time you played them on Thursday or Saturday, he was fired up, ready to go. We didn’t have any problem getting ready for that game.”

Seidler tells a story involving Anne Harper, the long-time Beaver secretary.

“When it was Duck week, it was like hell being around Jimmy,” Seidler says. “One time Annie and I were in the office. I’d gathered some green and yellow M&Ms. I put them in a pile on his desk. We were waiting to see what was going to happen. Jimmy comes in and sees them and starts swearing. Those M&Ms came flying out of his room.”

In seven years as an assistant, Seidler was 15-1 against Oregon. In four years as a player, Sitton went 10-0.

As a player, Anderson was 7-2 against the Ducks. As an assistant coach, he was 60-32. As a head coach, the mark was 7-6. Total Civil War record: 74-40.

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Anderson was 79-90 in his six years as Oregon State’s head coach. The record after the first season was 57-82. There are many theories why. He wasn’t tough enough. He didn’t have Gary Payton.

The Pac-10 was strong, with Arizona, UCLA and Arizona State at the top.

The Beavers lost promising sophomore Earnest Killum to a heart attack his third season in January 1992.

“He ran into some pretty tough luck, losing that kid,” Paul Miller says.

“Jimmy and Earnest had a great relationship,” says Strickland, a teammate of Killum’s. “He was one of Coach Anderson’s prize recruits. He was destined to make the NBA.”

“That was a major blow,” says McKinney, a junior on that team, “He was a phenomenal player. Had we had the full deck, things could have been different.”

And then there was this: Jimmy didn’t have Jimmy Anderson to recruit for him.

“He was the guy who found players for Ralph,” Sitton says.

“As a head coach, he couldn’t replace himself as an assistant coach,” Radford says.

“He came after Coach Miller,” Strickland says. “It was tough to fill those shoes. There’s a narrative about Coach Anderson. That he wasn’t successful. That he was running Ralph’s system. That his identity was Ralph Miller. But sometimes that’s the way the ball bounces. You can recruit the best players and it doesn’t work out. All I know is, he was the one getting Ralph those great players all those years. He was a great coach, plain and simple, in my book.”

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Soon after Wayne Tinkle arrived from Montana a decade ago, he formed a warm relationship with Anderson.

“The reception he gave me and my staff from Day One was great,” Tinkle says. “Sometimes he brought me up on the history of Oregon State. It was a real education. His three loves were God, his family and the game of basketball. He showed that every day. 

“What was neat, on Friday afternoons in the off-season once or twice a month, I’d have ‘Fridays with Jimmy and Fifi.’ I’d bring a bottle of wine and we’d talk about everything from hoops to family. It was a real joy to spend some time around those two. He became a friend, inspiration and mentor.

“His combination of talent, grit and desire to win epitomizes everything Oregon State stands for. That’s what made him stand out. He was such a fighter for Oregon State, just a bulldog as a student-athlete, assistant coach, recruiter and head coach. Talk about a guy digging in his heels to get it done — that’s what I took from him. All of Beaver nation is saddened with his passing.”

► ◄

Anderson’s health had declined in recent years. Some dementia had set in. He entered hospice last August. One of his sons, Steve, believes divine intervention happened.

The church bishop came to the Anderson home to provide last rites. Family members were there.

“Dad was not going to make it through the night,” Steve says. “He hadn’t eaten in 32 days. But Dad had the devil inside of him.

“The next day, he walked into the kitchen and started cracking jokes. I said, ‘We’re planning your funeral.’ He said, ‘I’m kind of hungry. Make me a sandwich.’ Two days later, he was drinking a beer in the parking lot before the Beaver football game. We were blessed to get another five months with him.”

“What happened with Jimmy was a miracle,” Hennessy says. “It was Lazarus rising from the dead.”

(Hennessy will deliver the eulogy at Anderson’s funeral on March 16. A celebration of life will be held at 3 p.m. that day at Gill. The public is invited to attend.)

During Anderson’s final months, former players stepped up their visits.

“We made a point of seeing him,” Radford says. “Ray was the point man on that.”

In late January, Anderson attended a reunion of the 1963 Final Four team before and during the Beavers’ 84-71 win over Arizona State.

“Fifi said the reunion was the last thing on his bucket list,” Seidler says.

“It was a chance for me to say goodbye to Jimmy,” Peters says. “You could see he was fading. I got a chance to spend some quality time with him and his family.”

Harper, now 95 years old, was honored during the ASU game. Dozens of former players were there to be part of it. So was Jimmy.

“He wanted to be there for Annie,” Jones says.

“Dad got to see all his guys,” Steve Anderson says. “The next morning, I could tell he saw what he needed to see.”

On Feb. 10, Sitton spent time talking to Jimmy at the Washington game at Gill.

“We had a great visit,” Sitton says. “But he looked very tired.”

A week before he died, Jimmy went back into hospice. It was time. The day before the Civil War game in Eugene, Tinkle spoke to his players about him.

“I talked about the ultimate Beaver competitor in (the Civil War),” Tinkle says. “The players knew Coach Anderson. They loved waving to him before pre-game introductions (at home games).

“We knew he didn’t have much time to live. I told the guys, ‘Let’s give everything we’ve got. Let’s leave everything out there and try to rally around Jimmy.’ I used him as inspiration for what the series meant. Our guys drew a lot from that.”

The Beavers led through much of the game but fell 78-71.

On Wednesday, two days after Jimmy’s death, Tinkle spoke again to his players. The coach hoped they would play inspired ball in Thursday’s game against Utah at Gill. The Beavers came through with perhaps their finest all-around performance of the season, knocking off Utah 92-85. The players wore a black band on their jerseys and coaches black ribbons in remembrance of Jimmy.

“I’m sure he was looking down on us with his passion and grit,” Tinkle says. “We lost a legend, but his legacy will live on.”

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