"It's a Good Day to be an Adult and an Eagle."
Note: All Day SA, as the nickname implies, was apparently relentless on the basketball court, but I only knew him as a student in my Media Productions class. This light-hearted jokester would apparently shift into “beast-mode” on the court, but for me, he was a charming reporter able to talk to anybody about anything. While his athletic talents took him to great heights in high school and college, his charm and communication skills delivered even greater glory.
The Gym Rat
“I was very much a one-track mind in high school,” admits Seth Anderson. “I just remember the sports thing was kind of the only thing I really truly cared about. I got decent enough grades and stuff, but you know the next basketball game or the next football game or the next baseball game.” During Anderson’s high school years from 2005-2008, a lot of folks had sports on the mind. From a #1 ranking in football to three straight state basketball appearances, Anderson lived the dream–only to come up short. With a stunning upset in the football playoffs and a missed opportunity in the state basketball championship, success fueled Anderson but adversity shaped him. In the spirit of Rocky Balboa, Anderson learned how to take a hit and keep moving forward.
His Balboa toughness was quickly challenged at Gustavus Adolphus College. “I remember my first year: I didn't get to play at all. I was just a benchwarmer and practice player.” Transitioning from the spotlight to the bench also helped Anderson discover a new definition of success. “My goals were always to be a good athlete. I ended up being an All-American in college (eventually), and you know, we won the conference as a team so I look back and feel good about what we were able to do individually and as a team in college.”
Paying it Forward
It didn’t take Anderson long to find himself coaching a high school program. Like with his time as an Eagle, Anderson took the Waseca Bluejay fans on another epic run. After finishing as runner-up in the 2019 State Basketball Championship, Anderson had his team poised for another shot at the title–only to have the playoffs stolen by Covid. A year later, the Blue Jays won their first title in a century when they defeated Caledonia 51-49 in the championship game. Granted, Maple River knocked Waseca out of the playoffs in 2022, but Anderson responded with another section championship this past season. If you’re counting section championships for Seth, you might need your toes soon.
Because…
The same “karma” that gave Anderson a championship after finishing in 2nd place back in 2006 also gave his former player Malik Willingham a championship title in 2024 after falling one game short in 2019. Once again playing alongside his Bluejay teammate (and brother) Kyreese, Malik finished his collegiate career on top with the Division II Men’s Basketball title.
“Seeing your former players find themselves in college, grow up, and turn it into a story book season is one of the most heart warming things to witness as coach,” Anderson noted. “It was like a movie watching their season unfold. I was a Buffalo Wild Wings in Mankato watching the championship game and the place cheered for every basket and went absolutely crazy when the final shot from Kyreese went in off a pass from his brother Malik. I might have gotten 80 text messages congratulating me on MSU winning the title….. which was strange cuz I wasn’t even coaching them anymore.”
For the kid who thought about sports “all day,” a change came over him soon after his own career as an athlete ended. “I once heard someone tell me that soon ‘sports won’t be won't be as important to you,’ and I thought ‘That's the stupidest thing I've ever heard!’ and then you know I was probably about three years out of college and I've got a wife and a kid and another one on the way…he's absolutely right! I still love sports and the coaching, but there's still that fire there to you as they always have been but other things have caught up to that you know as far as being a professional in the classroom being a father and being a husband.”
A professional in the classroom? Strangely enough, when Anderson was asked about what stuck with him from his high school time, he didn’t drop an anecdote about a pass, shot, or hit. Instead, he talked about teachers. “I definitely come to appreciate all the really good teachers that I had back then. It's more of how they treated me as a person or the conversations they had or how good a role models they were. You're always one that we talked about as being one of the best classes we ever had and how encouraging you were for us to go search articles and media production and do projects that we were interested in. You were just as excited about it as we were. I always think back to people like you and Mr Swanson. I always tell people I don't know how much I learned from Mr. Swanson but we learned how to treat people the right way, how to communicate with people the right way, and that's probably one of the greatest lessons. I bet if you ask any high school kid that went through Maple River, he taught you how to be a person by demonstrating it.”
For the past eight years, Anderson has been doing much more than just coaching basketball. Anderson has worked at Waseca Intermediate School as a 6th grade teacher and has coached boys tennis, youth football, and youth golf. “When you're in school, I think you always have kind of a very selfish personality. As you get older–in my profession as an elementary teacher–you can't be selfish. I think that has changed me a lot. I think the responsibility factor is probably the biggest way I changed.” While there is plenty of applause on a basketball court, acclaim for middle school teachers is limited. “I mean kids don't come back from college and say ‘Hey, you did such a great job teaching me in sixth grade.’”
A Family Tradition
With many of his athletic goals checked off, the ever-competitive Anderson still plans on maintaining a high quality program (as LCWM witnessed this past post-season). Yet the only way to have longevity is to have a balance of career and family.
Back in 2006, three generations of Andersons entered the gym: Seth as player, Tim as coach, and Jack as basketball guru. So when Seth found his career in Waseca, his parents moved to Waseca so that Tim could now serve as basketball guru during his son’s time as coach, which Seth enthusiastically described, “That was just…that was just really really a cool experience.” Anderson is now married with a son and another child on the way. “Jack: we named him after my grandpa. Yeah so he's about to come into a world of hurt when he's not the only one in the family anymore.” Ah, let the competition begin anew.
“I still have a lot of pride in being a Maple River alumni. I don't cheer for them as much
as the Waseca Blue Jays nowadays.” Seth noted the importance of systems in his life philosophy, which is what he is planning to bring to his new home. “One thing we are working towards is what we can do as a system. My goals kind of shift from a coach to what I want as a parent for him. I want him to be able to have success and be able to enjoy the experiences that I had when I was his age or be able to be a part of a school and a program that I was able to be a part of and have success and pride. So, you know, the goals are still the same goals every single year.”
Life in 2008
Oscar Winner: Slumdog Millionaire
Top-selling artist: Taylor Swift
President: George Bush
Viking Season: 10-6
Twins Season: 88-75
Price of gas: $2.84
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