| Wins against Kentucky - 1 | Losses against Kentucky - 2 |
Alma Mater: Stanford [1942] (*)
Hometown: Gary, IN
Date Born: March 17, 1919
Date Died: October 25, 1999
Overall Record: 368-234 [24 Seasons]
| Date | Matchup | UK Result | Score | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3/16/1957 | Kentucky vs. Michigan State | L | 68 - 80 | NCAA Mideast Regional Finals (at Lexington, KY) |
| 12/30/1949 | Kentucky vs. Bradley | W | 71 - 66 | Sugar Bowl Championship (at New Orleans, LA) |
| 2/5/1949 | Kentucky vs. Bradley | W | 62 - 52 | (at Owensboro, KY) |
Obituary - Lansing (MI) State Journal (October 28, 1999)
Anderson Dead at 80
Ex-MSU Coach led Spartans to Final Four in '57
by Tom Ganfert (Lansing State Journal)
Former Michigan State basketball coach Forrest "Forddy" Anderson, who led the Spartans to the Final Four in 1957, died Monday at age 80 in Oklahoma City, Okla., from complications of pneumonia, his son said.
Family members remembered Anderson as a man who loved basketball and his family and made room for both.
Anderson is survived by four children; daughters Connie Swets, Barb Anderson and Tracey Bookout and son Forrest Jr.
Swets was a 17-year-old who had just destroyed her father's new car in the 1950s when her cigarette flew into the backseat and onto some papers.
Swets, now 54, remembers her father's reaction.
"He was in Hawaii for a Christmas tournament," Swets recalled. "My mother didn't want to tell him because it would upset him during the tournament. But the story went over the wire service."
Soon Swets got a postcard from Hawaii. It was from her father.
"It said, 'I can always get another car. I can't get another daughter.'"
Anderson coached at MSU from 1954 to 1965. His 1957 club took North Carolina to three overtimes before falling in the national semifinals 74-70.
He had a 125-124 record including Big Ten titles in 1956-57 (tie) and 1958-59.
Once, Anderson conducted a basketball clinic in Japan.
When he returned, the coach took his bed off the post and laid the mattress flat on the floor like the Japanese did.
Anderson was impressed with their work ethic.
"He admired them," his son said. "He said they were the most tenacious working culture and that they were committed and they did it for the pleasure of having a job well done."
Anderson's children said he applied the same principles to being a coach and father.
Every spring while recruiting at MSU, Anderson would take a different child to go along with him.
"He'd take us to Chicago or some place kind of far away and we'd stay in a hotel and order room service and have a special time," Swets said.
During one Christmas, Anderson had a coaching friend from Drake play Santa Claus for his young children. Santa asked Swets, then 8, what she wanted the most for Christmas. When Anderson realized he didn't have it, he got a friend to open up his store on Christmas Eve so his daughter could open the present the next morning.
"He had to be gone so much coaching, but he tried to be the best dad he could with so little time home," Swets aid.
In 1965, Anderson was fired from MSU after a 5-18 season that included a last place finish in the conference.
Former Spartan coach Gus Ganakas said Anderson's style was very exciting.
"He was a national figure in basketball and a tremendous personality," said Ganakas, who coached MSU from 1969-1976 and is now special assistant to current head coach Tom Izzo. "He brought in an exciting style of play. He created more fan support."
Visitation will be from 7 to 9 p.m. Friday at the O'Brien-Eggebeen-Gerst Chapel in Grand Rapids Memorial contributions may be made to the American Diabetes Association. Services will be 11 a.m. Saturday at St. Robert of Newminster Church in Ada.
