'Gratitude!' After 37 Years on the Sidelines, Coach Mark Anderson Still Loves the Game Like It’s Day One

With over three decades of experience on the sidelines, the Rocky River High School girls varsity assistant basketball coach remains thankful for his shot to teach the game he loves.

A national champion in 2004 at Cuyahoga Community College and a mainstay in professional basketball, Coach Mark Anderson has built his career by coaching more than Xs and Os. / ATBL

Gratitude. 

It’s the one word that instantly comes to mind when Mark Anderson describes his trip around the game of basketball and back again. 

After 37 years of teaching the game and working with athletes on developing as people and players, the long-time high school, college, and pro coach is encouraged about the next practice he leads much like he was from the very first one he taught to tip-off his own coaching career in 1988. 

Stay in the game for that many years and the love for basketball simply keeps rewarding you. 

“Most of the coaches that I started out with are no longer coaching or very, very few are,” Coach Anderson told High School on SI. “I think my willingness to adapt to the changes in the game and continually learning has kept me in it this long.”

Always cordial and up to talk some basketball, Coach Anderson recently spoke about his longevity on the sidelines, passing along what he’s learned, and his latest quest on the court as an assistant coach with a Rocky River High School girls varsity team that’s determined to be completely relentless this 2025-26 season in the Ohio High School Athletic Association (OHSAA).

Mark Anderson (first row, second from left) worked his first basketball camp in 1983 as part of the McCracken Basketball Camp. / Mark Anderson/Facebook

What does that accomplishment of entering your 37th year in coaching mean to you as you look ahead and reflect on your career?

37 years of coaching basketball is a long time and has taken me places; opened doors that probably wouldn’t have been had I chosen a different path. I have created lifelong friendships along the way. I have had the opportunity to learn the game from great people and learned to readjust my coaching to have longevity. It has been a great journey and I believe I still have 10-12 years left and goals I’d like to attain. As I continue coaching, one thing I am doing is passing on what I have learned through the good seasons and the difficult ones.  

What do you remember the most from the very first basketball practice you ran? 

I don’t recall the first practice as much as I remember that team. It was a 7th grade team at my alma mater (Woodlan) and I had the varsity basketball head coach’s son; the varsity football head coach’s son; the son of another head varsity basketball coach in Ft. Wayne who was well known; and my brother Greg on the team. Right from the outset I knew I had to be prepared as I had a lot of eyes on what I was doing. What I remember is that none of them were critical of what I was doing but were encouraging. Actually, the only person who gave any grief that season was my own mom. Of all the people – she was my biggest fan by the way – who could have said something!  She would ask when we would get home, “Why didn’t Greg play more?”  I’d answer and then move on to something else. We finished 5-9 that season then I moved up with them the next season to 8th grade and we finished 9-5.  There was progress and improvement.

How did this opportunity come about to coach with Rocky River?

I was all set for a professional head coaching job in a new league but the funding fell through at the last minute. This was in late September, early October of 2024. I had met the head coach of the girls program, Jamey Pfahl, a few years prior while leading the drills for one of the Rocky River Girls Travel teams through TNBA (The National Basketball Academy). We ended up talking for several minutes after about the drills and my background. He also knew I was the building sub at the middle school which feeds into the high school so he reached out via email to see if I was interested. Within the email, he recalled our conversation.  We met the next day or so after the initial contact and discussed my role and what the team looked like for the upcoming season. It was a pretty easy decision after that. I had known many of the girls since their 6th or 7th grade year and they were pretty good basketball players. 

Thanks to Coach Anderson, the Pirates of Rocky River are taking a page out of college and pro basketball play books. / Ben Nichols/Facebook

You have coached at various levels from high school, to college, professionally in the G League (NBDL), with McCracken Basketball Camp, and the Owensboro Thoroughbreds of The Basketball League. How do you approach working with varsity girls basketball players compared to guys who are building their professional careers? 

I approached it in the same manner but as an assistant coach. I can and do suggest things but don’t have the final say. Knowing that, I brought in some concepts we used at the pro level on both offense and defense. For example, I introduced the coaching staff to the 2-sided break and we felt that our personnel were perfect for it. We had the girls run it and it has become an identity of ours and a weapon ever since. We have the girls look to score in the first :07 of a possession which doesn’t mean shooting all 3s either.  

I recall years ago I had an interview with a Division I women’s program and that was one of the first questions asked, “How would you coach the women differently than the men?”  My answer was, “I wouldn’t, basketball is basketball.”  

Players want to be coached and if they don’t then it’s probably not a good situation for both coaches and players.  I am not a yeller or screamer as a coach, I stopped doing that decades ago, however, there are times to pick and choose spots to do so. I believe if you do that all the time the team will tune you out. Other things I brought were some plays on offense with sets, out of bounds, etc. and some different looks defensively in certain situations. Going from being a head coach for the last 25 years or so on the college and professional levels to being an assistant, I understand the value of an assistant who continually offers ideas and doesn’t take offense if some of those ideas aren’t used. And this coaching staff embraces the collaborative efforts of everyone. To sum it up, it has been a smooth transition. 

From coaching in the past with Woodlan High School (Indiana) and Westview High School (Indiana), why was this the right time to join the program and return to the high school sidelines? 

I had put a lot of time and energy into getting a professional league organized through free agent camps, hiring many of the coaches, and working with others to put a solid product on the floor for the fall of 2025 and the spring of 2025 so when this didn’t materialize, I was looking for something stable and this came along.  

I had made a promise to myself after getting “fired” in 1996 from my last high school coaching job that I wouldn’t put myself in a situation like that again. From 1998 to 2019, that held true until I was let go by the Jamestown Jackals after 1 year and a winning record. One month after that I was hired by the Owensboro Thoroughbreds and helped build that team from scratch until we ceased operations in 2023 after 4 successful seasons (3 playoffs and a division championship). 

I needed a break after going through the rigors of minor league basketball as a head coach and doubling as general manager so this position, the team, coaching staff, has rejuvenated me and my coaching beyond my wildest thoughts. I hadn’t coached girls basketball since 1991 and the game has definitely changed and is getting better each year. It was one of the funnest years I have ever had coaching!

Rocky River plays in a strong 2A/3A Conference in the Ohio High School Athletic Association (OHSAA). As you start out with training camp and look ahead to this season, what will be your message to the team?

We start every practice with a “focus for the day” and a “Thought for day”. It was my turn on Monday, Oct 27 to lead it. I chose for the “focus” to keep communicating to each other on offense, defense, and most importantly on the sidelines when out during practice. Here’s one example I saw during one of our previous practices during a live shell defensive drill with all 5 players talking and communicating to each other. I stopped the drill and said we, as coaches, didn’t say a word about communicating and you did on your own!  I thought that was great.

My “Thought of the Day” was to challenge them to get 1% better each day as the season progresses.  I asked them to each pick something that they wanted to work on and not say it out loud but to challenge themselves internally each day.  

We went 18-5 overall and 13-1 in the CWC (Cleveland West Conference). We strengthened our non-conference schedule for this season as we were knocked out of the state playoffs (Division III) last year in the first game we played because we weren’t ready for the physical play.  We know what needs to be done and have already looked better in areas that were deficient last season.

Happy Birthday to the Godfather… aka… @coachinBB We love having you apart of ouRR Pirate family! 🙌🏻 #togetheRR pic.twitter.com/IdqJS4iq5c

— Rocky River Girls Basketball (@rrhsgirlsbball1) November 11, 2025

How would you describe the character of this Pirates team as you get this 2025-26 season underway?

Our theme this season: Relentless. We want to be this on offense with our fastbreak and quick scoring ability but also on defense with our ability to get after the ball. This group also encourages each other while playing. I have really noticed this since practice started on Oct 24.  There is very good camaraderie right now and I see this continuing. In today’s world, it is very easy to be all about yourself as an athlete but I haven’t seen this out of our team.

What keeps you going as a coach?

It’s the enjoyment of coaching and teaching the game, being around coaches and players, having success, and knowing that my time as coach is closer to the end than the beginning. I love the relationships built through coaching. I am still in contact with players I coached in the late 80s and 90s from high school coaching and teaching (Anderson taught high school social studies for 23 years). Most of the coaches that I started out with are no longer coaching or very, very few are. I think my willingness to adapt to the changes in the game and continually learning has kept me in it this long. 

Any advice for anyone entering their first year coaching basketball players?

Yes, you can’t control everything that goes on during the game but you can control how you and your team react. I have always gone by the adage “A coach reflects the team and the team reflects the coach’. Find a style that fits you and build upon it. Have several mentors to learn from. If you have the opportunity to be an assistant do so and do everything you can in learning what it takes to be a head coach. I had four great mentors and each gave me things that molded me into the coach that I am today. I was pretty fortunate. Lastly, enjoy the journey. Coaching is more than Xs and Os.