Ben Anderson (basketball)
Quick Facts
Biography
Benjamin Paul "Ben" Anderson (born 8 February 1985) is a New Zealand-American basketball player who played one season in the New Zealand National Basketball League for the Manawatu Jets. At 192 cm tall, he played both guard positions.
Born in Hamilton, New Zealand, Anderson's family moved to Melbourne, Australia at age 2 where he began and played his entire juniour career for the Whittlesea City Pacers and Bulleen Boomers. In 2002, Anderson was selected to play for Victoria which finished 2nd in the National Championships. Anderson, though a role player in the tournament was one of the leaders in three point shooting and field goal percentage. Anderson's family pushed on to Utah when he was 18. He earned a scholarship to play point guard for Snow College but elected to give up the game for a couple of years. While living in Sandy, Utah, Anderson worked as a personal trainer.
In March 2011, Anderson moved back to New Zealand to join the Manawatu Jets for the 2011 New Zealand NBL season after he met Tony Smith, a former National Basketball League veteran from the 1980s, who put him on to the idea of playing in the competition. Although Highly anticipated and impressive upon arrival the 'super-Fit' Anderson did not receive many opportunities during the season, as he managed his lone yet solid defensive appearance for the team in a three-minute stint on May 21 against the OceanaGold Nuggets.