Carlos Anderson called his first year of college basketball a learning experience.
It also can be considered a successful experience for the Alton High School grad.
In his first year at Southern Illinois-Edwardsville, Anderson averaged 10.3 points per game, giving him the second-best scoring average among freshmen in the Ohio Valley Conference in 2015-16, according to siuecougars.com. That average also made him the second-highest scorer on the team last season.
Yet, when looking back on the season and looking ahead to next season, the 6-foot, 4-inch-tall guard said that there was room for improvement.
Anderson, a two-time All-Southwestern Conference selection in high school, said one of the things he wants to improve is his leadership skills after getting a crash course in it in his first season.
“It was highly unexpected,” he said. “As a freshman, you no idea what Division I basketball is like at all.”
Anderson also said adjusting to the heightened mental game at the top level of college basketball was a challenge, but he thinks he can handle it better now.
“The mental game's really difficult because you go through so many slumps, and you have to handle adversity at a different level when you go to Division I,” he said. “It was a rough experience for me, but it was a good experience.”
Anderson started all 28 games for the Cougars and, in addition to his scoring average, he took down 4.7 rebounds, handed out 2.4 assists and made a team high 1.1 steals per contest. He made 38.6 percent of his shot attempts – 30.8 percent of 3-pointer tries – and hit 73.5 percent of his free throws. His average of 31.5 minutes played per game was second on the team, according to siuecougars.com.
Anderson said that there was a game early in the season in which he started to feel that he could make an impact at the Division I level, even at a young age.
In the third game of the season, when the Cougars hosted St. Louis on Nov. 18, Anderson had 13 points, six rebounds, five assists and three steals in the contest, which SIUE lost 70-60.
“I had a decent game at that time; good atmosphere, too,” he said.
Anderson saw improvement as the season went on, especially in becoming more of a guard and learning that position. What he also wants to work on for the 2016-17 season is his post game and his turnover ratio. Last season, he averaged almost as many turnovers per game as assists.
The Cougars also have room for improvement. According to ESPN.com, the Cougars struggled to a 6-22 overall record and a 3-13 mark in the OVC.
When asked what the team can improve on, Anderson said, “Definitely trust each other more and just playing as a whole; just getting rid of egos and probably establishing roles more."
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