Missouri and coach Mike Anderson have agreed to a contract for the coach that will keep in Columbia for seven years and pay him $1.3 million per year, nearly a $500,000 raise. After leading the Tigers to the Elite Eight this past season, media reports frequently mentioned Anderson’s name in connection with high-profile opening like Georgia and Memphis. Anderson coaches an up-tempo, entertaining style of play that borrows from Nolan Richardson’s “40 minutes of hell” at Arkansas in the mid-90s. Sports Illustrated mentions some of Anderson’s accomplishments and recent job offers.
“We are excited Coach Anderson is going to be at the University of Missouri for a long time,” Missouri athletic director Mike Alden said in a statement. “He’s done a tremendous job rebuilding our basketball tradition and is poised to lead our program to new heights in the coming years.”
According to one report, Georgia had offered Anderson a multiyear deal worth $2 million a year, and the 49-year-old coach had also been linked to the Memphis vacancy that opened up when John Calipari took the head coaching job at Kentucky.
But Anderson opted to stay at Missouri, where he has compiled a 65-34 record in three seasons, including a school-record 31-7 in 2008-09.
