[6] He served as an officer in the U.S. Army Air Forces in World War II and returned to Baker in 1945, then moved to western Oregon at Medford in 1946 and Grants Pass in 1947.

[7][8] His 1950 team was state runner-up and he had a career prep record of 167–43 (.795)[9] prior to taking the Gonzaga job in April 1951 at age thirty.

The program elevated to NCAA Division I in 1958, joined the Big Sky Conference as a charter member in 1963, and opened the on-campus Kennedy Pavilion in 1965.

Anderson oversaw the building of the Walkup Skydome and was also on the board of directors of the Fiesta Bowl in Tempe; he stayed at NAU nearly a decade and retired at the end of 1983 at age 63.

The team, formerly the Spokane Indians from 1973 to 1982, was headed by Larry Koentopp, the former Gonzaga baseball coach hired by Anderson in 1969 and his successor as GU athletic director in 1972.