Hall of Fame
LADELL ANDERSEN
Sports/Years: Men's Basketball (1949-51); Head Men's Basketball Coach (1961-71); Athletics Director (1973-83)
A former walk-on, LaDell Andersen lettered as an Aggie basketball player from 1949-52 and also served as the school's athletics director from 1973-82. He was a two-time all-Skyline Conference pick as a guard. The native of Malad, Idaho, was also invited and competed in the 1952 United States Men's Olympic Basketball team tryouts in New York City. Andersen was hired in 1956 as an assistant coach under Jack Gardner at Utah. He left the Utes in 1961 to become the head coach of his alma mater, where he helped the Aggies flourish over the next 10 seasons.
During his tenure with the Aggies, Utah State made five appearances in the NCAA Tournament, including the program's lone trip to the Elite Eight in 1970, losing to eventual national champion UCLA. USU also made the National Invitation Tournament during the 1966-67 season.
In his first season at Utah State, Andersen led the Aggies to a 22-7 overall mark. Andersen, the third-winningest coach in school history, finished with a 173-96 (.643) overall mark during his time at Utah State. He also tutored five All-Americans during his tenure, including Wayne Estes, Cornell Green, Shaler Halimon, Marvin Roberts and Nate Williams
After guiding the Aggies for 10 seasons, which included four conference coach-of-the-year honors, Andersen coached the Utah Stars of the American Basketball Association for two seasons, leading the team to a pair of Western Division titles and a 115-43 (.684) overall record. Andersen returned to his alma mater again to serve as Utah State's director of athletics for 10 years from 1973-82. Highlights of Andersen's stint as the Aggies' AD included overseeing the addition of 10,000 seats to Maverik (formerly Romney) Stadium, which brought the capacity of the facility to 30,257, lobbying for USU's admission into the Big West Conference and establishing the women's athletic program, which produced national titles in volleyball and softball.
Andersen passed away on Dec. 29, 2019 at the age of 90.
