BERKELEY - Eric Gilmore - Contra Costa Times (Photo by Steve Crane - EDH Telegraph)
Cal
freshman forward Ryan Anderson was making the rounds at Haas Pavilion, greeting
friends and family members late Tuesday night after scoring a game-high 23
points in the Bears' 84-50 win over Furman.
His mom, Sue, was there. So were his two best friends from El Dorado Hills, Straton Wilhelm and Patrick Glaze, a San Diego State freshman who hadn't seen Anderson in more than five months.
"Show us your six-pack again," Glaze said, laughing.
That's six-pack as in abs. Last season when Anderson was a senior at El Dorado Hills High School, he didn't even have a one-pack.
That was before Anderson went on a conditioning binge, losing fat and adding muscle to his 6-foot-10 frame.
First-year Furman coach Jeff Jackson recruited Anderson while he was an assistant at Vanderbilt, before Anderson's transformation.
"He was pudgy," Jackson said. "He's streamlined now. He's always had that skill package and that feel and that savvy for the game, but he didn't have his body like that."
Before Anderson's makeover, he was a quality recruit but hardly an elite player, Jackson said.
And now?
"He's gone to a guy that looks like he has a chance to play at the next level," Jackson said.
That would be the NBA.
When the Bears landed Anderson, they knew they had a good player. He averaged 28.9 points per game as a senior at Oak Ridge High School, third best in the state. He once scored 50 points in a playoff game.
But few if any thought Anderson would be this good this fast as a freshman.
Through 11 games he leads the Bears in scoring (17.1 points per game) and rebounding (8.7). He's shooting a team-best .460 from 3-point range and also is Cal's best post-up scorer. He was the MVP of the Great Alaska Shootout, averaging 17.1 points and posting two double-doubles in three games.
"I wasn't even sure I was going to be starting," Anderson said. "During the summer I just worked really hard and got in the gym and worked out with DeVon (Hardin) at like 6 in the morning.
"It's all paid off. I mean, I worked really hard to get where I am."
Anderson's hard work started months before he moved to Berkeley in July and joined his new teammates. He ran on the track. He lifted weights. When he took a "senior trip" to Hawaii with some friends, he ran on the beach every morning.
"They'd just get mad," Anderson said. "They eventually just ran with me so we could all hang out."
Anderson lost 20 pounds, dropping from 245 to 225 before leaving home, then added 10 pounds of muscle after arriving at Cal.
"He lost 20 pounds on his own in three weeks, healthy, before he started here in the summer," Sue said. "He just worked out a lot.
"All he did was cut carbs and desserts. Does that make you sick?"
In truth, losing those pounds was probably tougher than you'd think for Anderson.
He's a certifiable foodie who watches the Food Network. He loves to cook. Even more, he loves to eat. One of his dreams is to open a family restaurant once he's done playing basketball.
"I love food," Anderson said. "I love food. I mean, basketball, food, the church and my family and my friends, of course, that's pretty much my life."
