In his final game as a Sea Lion, Point Loma Nazarene University men’s basketball virtuoso, Kaden Anderson, did his best Willis Reed impression.

“What Kaden did in his last game is the stuff of legends,” former PLNU men’s basketball head coach, Matt Logie said. “It will go down in history as one of if not the most clutch performance in program history.”

Early in the first half of the Division II, NCAA West Regional Championship, back on March 13, Anderson went up for three, landing on a defender’s foot. Hobbling up and down the court on one good leg, he shot 9-14 from the floor, including 5-5 from deep, putting the team on his back for 27 points, in an 89-83 loss to Cal State San Bernardino.

“He was coming up in transition and made a three, he was limping back and I looked in his eyes and he looked in mine and I could just see the competitive fire in him,” former PLNU assistant coach, Julius Smith said. “I knew whatever happens in this game we are going to go down with Kaden swinging and shooting his best shot.”

When the last whistle blew, Anderson, a 6 feet 8 inches tall forward, who grew up in Enumclaw, Wash., in the shadow of Mount Rainer, finished his Sea Lions career with 2,047 points – third in program history. He also ranks fourth in blocks (119), eighth in rebounds (882), and 10th in 3-pointers made (168).

Anderson won back-to-back Pac West Player of the Year awards in 2022 and 2023. In addition, he led the team to three PacWest regular season titles. In all five of his seasons at PLNU, the Sea Lions qualified for the NCAA West Regionals. In the 2018-19 season, PLNU advanced all the way to the National Championship game, losing to Northwest Missouri State.

Hardly a stretch to call him the most successful player in PLNU basketball history.

“The thing about Kaden is he is relentless in his pursuit of excellence,” Smith said. “It has never been enough for him. When he scored 46 points against Western Washington, he wanted to get back in the gym the next day because we lost the game. He’s never been satisfied; its’ never served his appetite and that is what is so uniquely special about Kaden.”

After playing in the $1 million, winner-take-all, ‘The Basketball Tournament’ (TBT) this summer, Anderson signed his first pro contract in September, with Rasta Vechta, of the German Bundesliga – the top tier of professional basketball in Germany.

“I’m beyond excited for Kaden,” first-year PLNU head coach, Justin Downer said. “Kaden is the latest example that players can live out their dreams and accomplish their goals here at Point Loma.”

Vechta opens its season on Sept. 28.

Roland Nyama, a German wing, in his seventh year of pro basketball, sees a high upside with Anderson, as long as he can weather the adjustment period of college to pro hoops.

“The hardest adjustment is the physicality and devoting your entire life to basketball away from friends and family,” Nyama said. “Most teams practice twice a day and these can be very long and tough. As a rookie, mistakes are going to happen, yet as an import player teams expect you to carry a lot of the offensive burden.”

One thing Anderson has always been able to do: put the ball in the basket. And that has the potential to carry him a long way as a professional.

“Offensively I like his versatility and his ability to score off the catch or the dribble with quick decisions,” Nyama said, after watching Point Loma Nazarene YouTube highlights. “If he can guard multiple positions, he will have a long career.”

However it unfolds, Anderson will have the Point Loma community behind him.

“We will be there every step of the way rooting Kaden on and providing a place he can call home,” Downer said.