A former New Westminster basketball phenom has reached professional status south of the border.
Courtney Anderson is officially two steps below the NBA, recently cracking the roster for the Vancouver Volcanoes of The Basketball League (TBL).
The Vancouver, Wash., franchise are one of the newer teams in the TBL's west division after joining in 2021.
It's also a city Anderson is all too familiar with having played at Clark College before transferring to Douglas College in November 2018.
During his time in New West, Anderson led the Royals to the 2020 PACWEST men's basketball championship. Douglas was set to compete at the CCAA nationals before the COVID-19 pandemic cancelled the tournament.
The guard from Texas was named MVP of the provincial conference finals, as well as player of the game in the gold medal match sinking 26 points in Douglas' 97-89 win over Vancouver Island University.
Anderson was also named the PACWEST male athlete of the year, earned two first-team all-star nods and a CCAA men’s basketball All-Canadian.
In two seasons with the Royals, he averaged around 20 points per game over 35 games, shot nearly 90 per cent from the free throw line and totalled at least five rebounds per game.
He ended up at the University of the Fraser Valley (UFV) in Abbotsford to cap off his collegiate career.
Anderson combined for 300 points in 20 games, an average of 15 per contest, and adding 31 steals on defense.
He joins a Vancouver Volcanoes team that's still searching for its first above .500 season.
The red and blue finished with an 8-15 record in 2023 and 7-17 in 2022, but managed to qualify for the playoffs. They were eliminated in the first round in both years.
The TBL is a league of 38 teams across the United States since its inception in 2018. It acts as a stepping point for players looking to get to the NBA G-League and, ultimately, the NBA.
The regular season takes place between March and May with the Volcanoes scheduled to play 20 west conference games in five weeks before the playoffs.
