Adam Zagoria covers basketball at all levels. He is the author of two books and an award-winning journalist whose articles have appeared in ESPN The Magazine, SLAM, Sheridan Hoops, Sports Illustrated, Basketball Times and in newspapers nationwide.
Hurley Calls Anderson a ‘Modern-Day Magic Johnson’
By ADAM ZAGORIAPISCATAWAY, N.J. — Bob Hurley has coached some pretty good players in his day.
Bobby Hurley, Terry Dehere, Jerry Walker, Mike Rosario and Tyshawn Taylor are just some of the players to come through St. Anthony over the years.
Yet Hurley reserves special praise for 6-foot-8, UCLA-bound point guard Kyle Anderson.
“I think he’s the most dominant player to ever play at the school,” Hurley, a Naismith Hall of Famer, told SNY.tv last week at Rutgers.
“His improvement from last year till now is unbelievable. He’s certainly the most versatile kid ever anywhere near his size that I’ve ever coached.”
Anderson ended a high-stakes recruitment process last month when he chose UCLA over Seton Hall, St. John’s, Florida and Georgetown.
Now, he can focus on his senior season at St. Anthony, the defending mythical national champs.
“He’ll play wherever he wants,” Hurley said. “At this point in time, if he wants to go to the foul line against the zone, he’s very good there. IF he’s up at the top of the circle and he’s shooting a 3, he seems to be making a lot of those.
“So we’re going to kind of figure this thing out. Last year we were working on figuring it out, but he’s made it a little more complicated because he’s even better than he was. So now we have to try to utilize every part of what he can do. He can’t throw the ball to himself, so the other pieces have to figure out how good he is, just like the coaches have to figure it out.”
Adam Zagoria is a Basketball Insider who covers basketball at all levels. A contributor to The New York Times and SportsNet New York (SNY), he is also the author of two books and is an award-winning journalist and filmmaker. His articles have appeared in ESPN The Magazine, SLAM, Sheridan Hoops, Basketball Times and in newspapers nationwide. He also won an Emmy award for his work on the SNY mini-documentary on Syracuse guard Tyus Battle.
A veteran Ultimate Frisbee player, he has competed in numerous National and World Championships and, perhaps more importantly, his teams won the Westchester Summer League (WSL) championships in 2011 and 2013.
He lives in Manhattan with his wife and children.