Fairleigh Dickinson basketball introduces new men's coach Tobin Anderson
HACKENSACK — The deal to bring Tobin Anderson to Fairleigh Dickinson was finalized at a diner.
What better way for New Jersey’s latest Division I men’s basketball coach to begin his tenure?
“We had already gone through the long interview, so they were like, ‘Hey, let’s get together, where do you want to go?’” Anderson said at his introductory press conference Thursday at the Rothman Center. “There’s a great diner in Orangetown [New York]… we met there and talked for a few hours.”
Anderson spent the past nine seasons in Orangetown, molding St. Thomas Aquinas into a contender. The Spartans finished 28-5 this past season, reaching the NCAA Division II East Region final.
FDU, meanwhile, endured its third straight losing season (4-22) since winning the 2019 Northeast Conference championship.
“We needed a coach that was a proven winner,” FDU athletics director Bradford Hurlbut said. “Most importantly, we wanted a coach that truly cares about his players.”
Anderson made that apparent at the outset. Before taking his place on the dais for formal introductions, the coach and his entire family – wife Jodi, son Bryce and daughter Alexa – gave hellos and handshakes to the Knights players seated in the front row of the stands.
“We’re going to be a family,” Anderson told the players, who were seen nodding at the notion. “You guys will be at our house for dinner. You’ll be at our house that Christmas. My wife will make cookies… you’ll be part of our family.
“It’s not the coaches and the players, it’s ‘we’.”
Anderson played at Wesleyan (Conn.) and graduated in 1995. He has been a head coach for 21 seasons combined at New York colleges Clarkson, Hamilton and St. Thomas Aquinas (209-62) – the last 19 have all ended with winning records.
The Iowa native spoke about how his father influenced his career and instilled in him the ideal of “walking the walk.”
“We’re not going to just sit here and say, ‘Hey, we’re going to do this, we’re going to do that’,” Anderson said. “Fellas, let’s go do it, then we’ll talk about it.”
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In addition to preaching a commitment to excellence – using the Greek work “arete” to do so – he hinted at the style of basketball FDU followers can anticipate.
“We’re going to defend. We’re going to press. We’re going to run. We’re going to score some points,” Anderson said. “We’re going to have some fun.”
The Rockland County resident succeeds Greg Herenda, who was ousted abruptly after nine seasons that featured two NCAA Tournament bids – and the school’s only March Madness win to date.
This March, much of the Garden State’s basketball attention was focused on Jersey City, as Saint Peter’s became the first No. 15 seed to reach a Division I regional final.
FDU seems to fit the profile of a potential Cinderella school, though the Knights are a long way from getting back to the Big Dance, much less replicating the exploits of their neighbors to the south.
Anderson seems convinced that his new school has that potential, despite recent athletic department cutbacks.
“I heard a quote this morning: ‘The impossible is only impossible until it happens,’ right?” he said in a one-on-one conversation with the USA TODAY Network New Jersey. “Saint Peter’s, in the middle of the season, who would have said they’re going to go to the Elite Eight?
“No one’s making any promises, but let’s go do some great things, build a program, and let’s see what happens. That’s the idea.”
Email: tartaglia@northjersey.com
Twitter: @njtags13
This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: Fairleigh Dickinson basketball introduces new head coach
