How OSU’s Anderson views NBA decision
STILLWATER — Late last season, Avery Anderson III took a step back and thought about what he was doing.
He had just scored 16 points in an overtime win against Texas Tech. He followed with 15 and 11 in back-to-back wins against OU.
Then, he dropped 31 points in a win at West Virginia with Oklahoma State’s Cade Cunningham and Isaac Likekele sidelined due to injuries.
Anderson was on top of the world in just his second collegiate season.
That’s when the thought of playing in the NBA became more real.
Why not enter his name in the NBA Draft? See what happens.
“I was playing with some of the top guard names that were on the NBA Draft board,” Anderson told The Oklahoman last week. “I felt like I could play with them.”
As the wild offseason marches on in college basketball with the NCAA transfer portal overflowing with talent, one Cowboys star isn’t putting his name in that mix. He’s thinking bigger, but with the realization he could be back in orange and black next season.
Anderson has declared for the NBA Draft but he won’t hire an agent. He’s taking the smart approach.
Get evaluated. Maybe get invited to the draft combine. If it isn’t the right time, he stays and makes OSU better.
“Everybody has their own journey to the NBA,” Anderson said. “If I gotta come back another year, then I gotta come back another year. I’m not going to
rush it.
“At the end of the day, it’s about staying there. You want to stay there. You don’t want to just get there and then be out of the NBA. You want to have a long career there.”
After the season ended, Anderson took three days to talk things over with his family and others. They supported his decision. His old AAU coaches — former NBA players Jermaine O’Neal and Mo Williams — along with several other NBA players including Terrence Ferguson and Tyrese Maxey offered guidance, advised him to not hire an agent.
Anderson, who is still only 20 years old, filed for an evaluation from the NBA Undergraduate Advisory Committee. That will tell him where he would be projected to be picked on July 29. He could be projected to not be drafted at all.
If so, he plans to return to school. “I’m really just basing my decision on where they put me in the draft,” Anderson said.
It’s not uncommon for players to take this step. Likekele received an evaluation last summer.
But Anderson taking this step is quite a big step from where he was entering the season.
Anderson struggled as a freshman. He averaged just 3.8 points and made 2 of 23 3-pointers off the bench.
Then he missed three non-conference games in December due to COVID-19 contact tracing. He didn’t make his first start until Dec. 20 at Texas.
From there, he took off and ultimately became OSU’s second-best scoring threat behind Cunningham.
Anderson averaged 12.2 points and made nearly 33% of his 3-pointers. He had three 20-plus point performances over the last six games. In that span, he averaged 19.2 points and shot 52.6% overall.
“We have a lot of really good college basketball players,” OSU coach Mike Boynton said following the NCAA Tournament win over Liberty. “And Avery Anderson is at the top of the list.
“At some point, I would hope people would just accept that he’s a good player and not just assume that he’s like pulling this stuff out of his butt, because he’s been doing it pretty consistently here the last month or so.”
Boynton often called Anderson the most improved player in America late in the season. Anderson said Boynton was supportive of his decision, welcoming the evaluation to help Anderson improve.
The past season only emboldened Anderson for the future. He also became a better leader on and off the court. That’s showing even now. Anderson knows he’s not far from his NBA dream. He’s still in Stillwater finishing up the spring semester and working out with the Cowboys.
It’s a win-win situation.
“If my not stock’s not high enough, I’m going to come back to school and help bring a championship to the team,” Anderson said.
“I’m going to go 110% on what they tell me I need to work on and come back and try to do it, while also be in a team situation and try to help my team win games.”