by Dax Larson
March 23, 2006
At the end of the Wells Fargo Finals championship game against St. Cloud State, junior Luke Anderson was at the free-throw line to ice the victory. Instead of silence as he shot, the crowd was chanting, “All-American” as Anderson made both his free throws. The fans got their wish as Anderson was named to the Daktronics NCAA Division II All-America Second Team Tuesday.
“For how hard I worked in the off-season, it feels really good,” Anderson said. “It is something I will always remember.”
Anderson is only the fifth Maverick to earn All-American honors. Anderson follows Jamel Staten as the second All-American Maverick in two years. It is the first time MSU has had back-to-back All-Americans and head coach Matt Margenthaler is the only MSU coach with more than one All-American.
“We have a lot of players with the ability to be All-Americans and it shows how good he really is by playing with great players around him,” Margenthaler said. “Hopefully this motivates him to be a first-team selection next year.”
Anderson was second in the NCC in scoring this season and 28th in all of Division II. Anderson is one of only two players in D-II to score 20 or more points in the first 12 games of the season. Anderson averaged a career-high 20.8 points this season and ranks third on MSU’s all-time scoring list. He is only 62 points away from taking over the top spot for the all-time highest scorer in Maverick history, a feat that should be easily reached early next season.
“Scoring comes with the way I play,” Anderson said. “If I am able to get [to the top spot] it will be my greatest accomplishment in my athletic career.”
Anderson was only one of two juniors named to the two All-American teams, which includes 15 players. Other awards for Anderson this season were a Daktronics All-Region First Team honoree, All-North Central Conference team, Wells Fargo Finals Most Valuable Player and he was named NCC Player of the Week twice this season. Anderson said his team is the reason he was an All-American.
“I wouldn’t have been able to do what I did with out them,” Anderson said. “If we hadn’t won the conference, I probably wouldn’t have been an All-American.”
