Eye on the Eagles: Get to know men's basketball forward Zach Anderson
Eye on the Eagles
Get to know your Eagles. The Naples Daily News will profile an FGCU athletic program member each week to introduce fans to the players and coaches suiting up for the Blue and Green during the 2024 season.
Zach Anderson is a senior forward playing for the men's basketball team. Before joining the Eagles, Anderson played at Apopka High School where was a four-year starter, Class 7A All-Florida second-teamer and led the Blue Darters to a regional semifinal his senior year. At FGCU, he played in all 18 games as a true freshman and averaged 2.8 points and 4.2 rebounds per game. As a sophomore, he started in 13 games and posted 4.9 points and 3.3 rebounds while shooting 46 percent from the floor. Anderson entrenched himself into the starting lineup in his junior year when he averaged 11.7 points on 48 percent shooting with a team-high 6.7 rebounds per game. In the 2023-24 campaign, Anderson has been a mainstay in a lineup impacted by injuries, including a 21-point, 10-rebound outing in the Eagles' historic win over then No. 7 ranked Florida Atlantic.
Question: What has been your favorite memory as an Eagle?
Anderson: I would definitely say this year, beating FAU. The fans storming the court was kind of a surreal experience. I went to go look for my coach to celebrate with him and then I had 40 college students jumping on me. So it was a good experience and definitely my most memorable.
Q: What is it like being part of FGCU's first home win over a ranked opponent?
Anderson: It feels good. We kind of tried to take it day by day and attack every day differently. Going into that week, we knew we had to have a good week of practice. And we knew we had got a good team coming here to Alico. So we also are very confident in us and we're very confident in the coaches to be able to compete with these top teams. So them coming in, we had no doubt in our minds that we could win the game. And we just went into the game with a winner's mentality and it carried over. It's great to have that and it's great for the fans to be able to enjoy that moment as well.
Q: What are some of your goals for after college?
Anderson: Well everybody's dream as a kid was to go to the NBA. I definitely want to go pro, wherever that is. Obviously, my target is the NBA. But I'm also satisfied with just being able to make some type of revenue playing basketball. So wherever basketball takes me is kind of where I'm going right now.
Q: Your background is in the Florida hoop scene, and now you're a cornerstone for one of the state's Division I programs. What has that been like?
Anderson: I've had great mentors and leaders in my life. My high school coach Scott Williams, kind of helped me develop as a basketball player. Not only my skill level but just thinking about the game and then the mental part of it. So coming into college, I was already kind of prepared because we were having college-type practices in high school. So being in Florida my whole life I'm kind of, you know, used to it. And it's been a real easy kind of transition from high school to college because I came from a program where we were getting treated like college athletes.
Q: Is that what helped you land on FGCU's campus coming out of high school?
Anderson: Well, it was my mom. I've always respected my parents of course, and my mom was very nervous for me going off to college, so I kind of want to stay in Florida. I wanted to stay in a spot where I'm not too close to where they can just pop up, but I'm not too far, just in case something happened. It's a three-hour drive, they can still come to all the games. I enjoyed being able to go see my family when I need to just in case of emergencies. And when I came down here, I mean, it was just a great spot. The area's nice, very calm, very relaxed. And it was kind of an easy decision seeing the palm trees.
Q: What advice do you have for any incoming Eagles?
Anderson: I would just say keep your attitude consistent every day. There's going to be some things you can't control, whether that'd be playing time, be the shots that you want per game, there's going to be things coming in as a freshman that you're not going to understand as a freshman. And I feel like this coaching staff has helped me develop as a player and as a person on and off the floor. So they are definitely going to do that for any freshman coming in. They kind of treat him like a son. I'm watching one workout right now. And it's like, this is the relationships they build and how they treat you and take care of you and make you really feel like a big family. So that's some advice that I would say coming in as a freshman, just stay hungry, stay ready, and just try to be as consistent as you can every day and just live with the results. Things are not going to go your way every day, but be able to just move on and adapt and learn from it.
Q: Do you have a favorite pro athlete or team?
Anderson: I would say LeBron. I get asked who my game resembles the most and I've heard Mikal Bridges. But the Lakers are my favorite team just because of LeBron. I've been a LeBron fan since he came into the league, I'm a 2000s baby. I'm scared for that day [he retires].
Q: Do you have a favorite spot to eat near campus?
Anderson: I eat Chipotle a lot. But nothing specific down here. But pregame, we're sponsored by Carrabba's and we get chicken and you have a choice between red sauce or white sauce. For me it's usually just spaghetti, alfredo, a salad, and a water. That's basically my meal.
Q: Do you have go-to pregame music?
Anderson: Yeah, [NBA] YoungBoy. YoungBoy gets going, he gets me in that mode.
Q: Do you have any pregame superstitions or rituals?
Anderson: Every single game I wore my lucky tights. I had a good game my sophomore year and I wore the same hex pads under my jersey. It was for a couple of years, but I retired them this year. I had to.
This article originally appeared on Naples Daily News: A Q&A with FGCU men's basketball starter Zach Anderson
