MINNEAPOLIS — When legendary coach John Anderson announced back in December his decision to retire this spring, it sent shockwaves through the University of Minnesota.
Anderson has been a member — in some form — of the Gophers baseball team since 1974, spending time as a player, student assistant, graduate assistant, assistant coach and head coach.
Racking up more than 1,300 victories with 11 Big Ten titles, 10 conference tournament championships and 18 NCAA tournament appearances, Anderson has seen it all on the diamond. But when talking about the accomplishments he's most proud of, it had nothing to do with what happened on the diamond.
"I'm most proud of the young men that came here earned their degrees and that they developed into outstanding young men," said Anderson Tuesday during his first press conference since announcing his retirement. "I've been able to follow their lives, their careers and their families. I've been in players' weddings, gone to many weddings, got many birth announcements. So that tells you that the relationship has meant something."
Those bonds translated to success. Anderson is already the winningest coach in program history, and has been inducted into the American Baseball Coaches Association (2008), the University of Minnesota "M" Club (2002), the Minnesota High School Baseball Coaches Association (2013) and the Hibbing Community College hall of fames.
He took over as the Gophers' head coach in 1982 and immediately took them to the NCAA tournament, the first of his 18 appearances. He twice led Minnesota to four-year streaks of NCAA Regional tournament appearances (1991-94 and 1998-2001)and a Super Regional appearance in 2018.
Entering his final season, Anderson is 1,365-997-3 with a Big Ten record of 614-414. He's had 36 winning season and was named the Big Ten Coach of the Year eight times, most recently in 2018.
Anderson said he's at peace with his decision, saying it will give him more time to spend with his family, including his daughter who lives in Denver. The Gophers open the season Friday at the College Baseball Classic in Surprise, Arizona.
Watch more coverage of Minnesota sports:
Watch the latest reports from the KARE 11 sports team in our YouTube playlist:
WATCH MORE ON KARE 11+
Download the free KARE 11+ app for Roku, Fire TV, Apple TV and other smart TV platforms to watch more from KARE 11 anytime! The KARE 11+ app includes live streams of all of KARE 11's newscasts. You'll also find on-demand replays of newscasts; the latest from KARE 11 Investigates, Breaking the News and the Land of 10,000 Stories; exclusive programs like Verify and HeartThreads; and Minnesota sports talk from our partners at Locked On Minnesota.
- Add KARE 11+ on Roku here or by searching for KARE 11 in the Roku Channel Store.
- Add KARE 11+ on Fire TV here or by searching for KARE 11 in the Amazon App Store.
- Learn more about the KARE 11+ app for Apple TV in the Apple App Store.
- Learn more about KARE 11+ here.