John Anderson, an attorney in Whitefish and former Division III center, is poised to be the new head coach of boys basketball at Columbia Falls High School, marking a new chapter for one of the most successful programs in Montana.
“Columbia Falls is an ideal place to be a coach,” Anderson said Wednesday, two days after accepting the offer from administrators.
The hire is pending approval by the school board, which is scheduled to meet Monday. Anderson resigned from the Whitefish City Council in late May.
This will be Anderson’s first foray into coaching high school basketball; he has 25 years experience leading youth teams.
He will replace Cary Finberg, who stepped down after 19 seasons at his alma mater following one of the most successful tenures in state history. Finberg guided the Wildcats to five Class A championships and seven consecutive top-three finishes at the state tournament from 2009-2015. He left with a career record of 298-138 as the boys head coach. Finberg remains the head coach of the girls basketball team.
Anderson was among three candidates interviewed for the job, according to administrators.
“John set himself apart from the other two candidates in his knowledge of the game and style of play, knowledge of Wildcat basketball’s history, public support from many local and valley wide basketball coaches, fans, and parents that know John,” Columbia Falls activities director Troy Bowman said. “And finally, his genuine interest, enthusiasm, and eagerness to meet our players, getting to know them, and help lead them into the future.”
Instead of being intimidated, Anderson said he is excited to be stepping into a strong program — and community — with a proud tradition.
“The administration and community understand that the most important thing about high school athletics are the kids, and (Columbia Falls) is just a natural environment for what high school athletics should be,” he said.
Anderson said he will organize a new set of assistant coaches and is already hitting the ground running organizing open gyms. He plans on meeting with members of the former coaching staff, as well as talking with Finberg.
“By the time I’m done, I’ll know as much as anybody can know about the kids and the conference and the state landscape,” Anderson said.
He added, “(Finberg) has done a great job with that program. I think anybody coming in would be foolish to not reach out to him and pick his brain.”
Class A will be undergoing a noticeable shift in the 2015-16 academic year. The Northwestern and Southwestern A conference will combine into the Western A Division. The new division will include Northwestern A’s Columbia Falls, Frenchtown, Polson and Whitefish and Southwestern A’s Dillon, Butte Central, Corvallis, Hamilton and Stevensville.
In many ways, the new divisions won’t have many noticeable impacts until the postseason. In basketball, each of the four conferences currently hosts a tournament that sends two teams to the state tournament. Under the new setup, there will be two divisional tournaments and four teams from each event will qualify for state, regardless of their conference.
Anderson emerged as the new head coach after an exhaustive search. Six weeks after Finberg stepped down, the school had not received any applications for the vacant position. The biggest hurdle was the lack of a teaching position in the district to go along with the coaching job.
Yet the opportunity was ideal for someone such as Anderson, who has made a living outside of the school district but has enough free time to devote to coaching.
Anderson grew up in Peshtigo, Wisconsin and developed a love for basketball at an early age.
“I grew up really poor and was raised by a single mom. Basketball was an escape for me,” he said.
In high school, he played for Sam Komp, a hall of fame coach. He continued on to college and played center at Division III Beloit College under Bill Knapton, one of the most successful NCAA D-III coaches of all time.
He said he learned a lot playing for both successful coaches and has long desired to be a coach someday.
“I know what it’s like to be in a championship program. I know what it takes,” he said. “I know what’s important in a program and it’s not just the X’s and O’s. You need the desire to work with kids and you have to be in it for the kids.”