Tobin Anderson
American basketball coach (born 1971)
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Tobin Anderson (born December 1, 1971) is an American basketball coach who is currently the head coach of the Tennessee Tech Golden Eagles men's basketball team. He was previously the head coach of the Fairleigh Dickinson Knights men's basketball team for the 2022–23 season, where he led them to be the second 16-seed to defeat a 1-seed in the NCAA tournament. He was also the head coach of the Iona Gaels men's basketball team from 2023 to 2025.[1]
| Current position | |
|---|---|
| Title | Head coach |
| Team | Tennessee Tech |
| Conference | SoCon |
| Biographical details | |
| Born | December 1, 1971 Truro, Iowa, U.S. |
| Playing career | |
| 1991–1995 | Wesleyan |
| Coaching career (HC unless noted) | |
| 1996–1997 | Clarkson (assistant) |
| 1997–1999 | Le Moyne (assistant) |
| 1999–2004 | Clarkson |
| 2004–2011 | Hamilton |
| 2011–2013 | Siena (assistant) |
| 2013–2022 | St. Thomas Aquinas |
| 2022–2023 | Fairleigh Dickinson |
| 2023–2025 | Iona |
| 2025–2026 | South Florida (special asst. to HC) |
| 2026–present | Tennessee Tech |
| Head coaching record | |
| Overall | 444–241 (.648) |
| Tournaments | 2–1 (NCAA Division I) 9–6 (NCAA Division II) 1–1 (NCAA Division III) |
| Accomplishments and honors | |
| Championships | |
| Liberty League tournament (2006) 3 Liberty League regular season (2006, 2007, 2009) 6 ECC tournament (2016–2018, 2020–2022) 5 ECC regular season (2015–2017, 2021, 2022) | |
Early life
Anderson grew up in Truro, Iowa and played high school basketball at Interstate 35 High School, where he was an all-star in 1990.[2] His father, Steve, was the head coach at Interstate 35 High School for almost three decades and later coached at Douglas High School in Box Elder, South Dakota.[3] Anderson played college basketball at Wesleyan University from 1991 to 1995, where, as of 2022[update], he ranks 11th all-time in career scoring.[4] Anderson then earned a master's degree in athletic administration from Florida State University, graduating in 1996.[citation needed]
Coaching career
Clarkson (1996–2004)
Anderson's coaching career began at Clarkson in 1996 as an assistant coach. After one season, he joined Dave Paulsen's coaching staff at Le Moyne for two seasons before returning to Clarkson as head coach.[5] In five seasons with Clarkson, Anderson posted a 67–66 overall record before taking the head coaching position at Hamilton College.[6][7]
Hamilton (2004–2011)
While at Hamilton, Anderson compiled a 118–63 record over seven seasons, which included three UCAA regular season titles and a bid to the 2006 NCAA Division III tournament. After the 2011 season, Anderson joined the coaching staff of Siena under Mitch Buonaguro, where he stayed for two seasons before accepting the head coaching position at St. Thomas Aquinas.[8]
St. Thomas Aquinas (2013–2022)
While with the Spartans, Anderson put together a 209–62 overall record, including five East Coast Conference regular season titles and six ECC tournament titles, reaching the NCAA Division II tournament in seven-straight seasons, including the Elite Eight in 2017.[9] Under Anderson, St. Thomas Aquinas also defeated Division I St. John's 90–58 in an exhibition contest in 2015.[10]
Fairleigh Dickinson (2022–2023)
On May 3, 2022, Anderson was named the eighth men's basketball coach in Fairleigh Dickinson history, replacing Greg Herenda.[11][12][9]
In his first season as coach of the Knights, Anderson led the team to the Northeast Conference championship game, where they fell to Merrimack. However, due to NCAA division reclassification rules, Merrimack was not eligible for the NCAA tournament, which allowed FDU to receive the NEC’s automatic bid to the tournament as conference runner-up. After the Knights defeated fellow #16 seed Texas Southern in the First Four, they advanced to face #1-seeded Purdue, whom they took down 63–58, becoming only the second #16 seed to ever defeat a #1 seed in the tournament.[13]
Iona (2023–2025)
On March 21, 2023, Anderson was named the head coach at Iona, replacing Rick Pitino who departed for the head coaching position at St. John's.[14][15] Iona fired Anderson on March 17, 2025 after two seasons.[16]
South Florida (2025–2026)
On April 29, 2025, Anderson joined the staff of Bryan Hodgson at South Florida as a Special Assistant to the Head Coach.[17]
Tennessee Tech (2026–present)
On March 13, 2026, Anderson was named the head coach at Tennessee Tech.[18]
Head coaching record
NCAA DI
| Season | Team | Overall | Conference | Standing | Postseason | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fairleigh Dickinson Knights (Northeast Conference) (2022–2023) | |||||||||
| 2022–23 | Fairleigh Dickinson[a] | 21–16 | 10–6 | 2nd | NCAA Division I Round of 32 | ||||
| Fairleigh Dickinson: | 21–16 (.568) | 10–6 (.625) | |||||||
| Iona Gaels (Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference) (2023–2025) | |||||||||
| 2023–24 | Iona | 16–17 | 10–10 | 7th | |||||
| 2024–25 | Iona | 17–17 | 12–8 | T-4th | |||||
| Iona: | 33–34 (.493) | 22–18 (.550) | |||||||
| Tennessee Tech Golden Eagles (SoCon) (2026–present) | |||||||||
| 2026–27 | Tennessee Tech | 0–0 | 0–0 | ||||||
| Tennessee Tech: | 0–0 (–) | 0–0 (–) | |||||||
| Total: | 54–50 (.519) | ||||||||
|
National champion
Postseason invitational champion
| |||||||||
- Note
- Fairleigh Dickinson advanced to the NCAA tournament, because NEC tournament champion Merrimack was ineligible due to their transition from Division II.
NCAA DII
| Season | Team | Overall | Conference | Standing | Postseason | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| St. Thomas Aquinas Spartans (East Coast Conference) (2013–2022) | |||||||||
| 2013–14 | St. Thomas Aquinas | 15–14 | 9–11 | 5th | |||||
| 2014–15 | St. Thomas Aquinas | 21–11 | 17–3 | T–1st | |||||
| 2015–16 | St. Thomas Aquinas | 27–5 | 18–2 | 1st | NCAA Division II Second Round | ||||
| 2016–17 | St. Thomas Aquinas | 28–6 | 15–3 | 1st | NCAA Division II Elite Eight | ||||
| 2017–18 | St. Thomas Aquinas | 26–7 | 15–3 | 2nd | NCAA Division II First Round | ||||
| 2018–19 | St. Thomas Aquinas | 25–7 | 15–3 | 2nd | NCAA Division II Sweet 16 | ||||
| 2019–20 | St. Thomas Aquinas | 25–5 | 13–3 | 2nd | NCAA Division II Canceled | ||||
| 2020–21 | St. Thomas Aquinas | 14–2 | 9–1 | 1st | NCAA Division II Sweet 16 | ||||
| 2021–22 | St. Thomas Aquinas | 28–5 | 17–1 | 1st | NCAA Division II Sweet 16 | ||||
| St. Thomas Aquinas: | 209–62 (.771) | 128–30 (.810) | |||||||
| Total: | 209–62 (.771) | ||||||||
|
National champion
Postseason invitational champion
| |||||||||
NCAA DIII
| Season | Team | Overall | Conference | Standing | Postseason | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Clarkson Golden Knights (Liberty League) (1999–2004) | |||||||||
| 1999–00 | Clarkson | 14–12 | 6–6 | N/A | |||||
| 2000–01 | Clarkson | 7–18 | 3–11 | N/A | |||||
| 2001–02 | Clarkson | 19–10 | 9–5 | N/A | |||||
| 2002–03 | Clarkson | 11–14 | 6–8 | N/A | |||||
| 2003–04 | Clarkson | 16–12 | 9–5 | N/A | |||||
| Clarkson: | 66–67 (.496) | 33–35 (.485) | |||||||
| Hamilton College (Liberty League) (2004–2011) | |||||||||
| 2004–05 | Hamilton | 15–11 | N/A | N/A | |||||
| 2005–06 | Hamilton | 23–5 | 12–2 | 1st | NCAA Division III Second Round | ||||
| 2006–07 | Hamilton | 19–7 | 11–3 | 1st | |||||
| 2007–08 | Hamilton | 17–9 | N/A | N/A | |||||
| 2008–09 | Hamilton | 18–7 | 12–2 | T–1st | |||||
| 2009–10 | Hamilton | 10–14 | N/A | N/A | |||||
| 2010–11 | Hamilton | 16–10 | N/A | N/A | |||||
| Hamilton: | 118–63 (.652) | 0–0 (–) | |||||||
| Total: | 184–130 (.586) | ||||||||
|
National champion
Postseason invitational champion
| |||||||||