A BroncoLife Story: La'Shard Anderson
This week La’Shard Anderson is one of many student-athletes who will earn a bachelor’s degree from Boise State University. What makes his story unique is his degree will come more than a decade after he made his last appearance on the hardwood for the Blue and Orange.
After playing a junior college season at Irvine Valley (Calif.), Anderson transferred to Boise State for the 2008-09 season where he played exclusively off the bench.
As a junior, he started 29 of 32 games. Enter current Bronco head coach Leon Rice. In Anderson’s senior year, Rice’s first at the helm of the Boise State program, the guard started all 35 games and led the Broncos with 15.1 points per outing.
His performance earned him a spot on the All-WAC First Team and the All-WAC Defensive team in 2011. The Broncos finished 22-13 and advanced to the semifinals round of the College Basketball Invitational where they were eliminated at Oregon.
Anderson was on track to graduate in 2012, but decided to pursue professional opportunities overseas.
“I played in Netherlands, Austria, Belgium, Cyprus and Africa,” Anderson said. “Netherlands was very urban and close enough to visit other countries and see things like the Eiffel Tower. Cyprus was great. It reminded me of my home in San Diego.”
Anderson’s was not immune to life-changing events when COVID-19 arrived. His season was halted and he returned to California. Shortly thereafter, he learned his girlfriend was pregnant and his focus changed.
“I realized I needed my degree,” Anderson said. “So I reached out to coach Rice and Sara Whiles about finishing up.”
Whiles is Boise State’s assistant athletic director, student-athlete development and BroncoLife. She immediately began the process to assist him.
Anderson took accelerated classes and is set to graduate with a degree in interdisciplinary studies and a minor in business.He said the leadership qualities he learned both on the court in the classroom have prepared him for life now that basketball is finished.
“It (completing his degree) was a challenging time and I am very glad to be finished,” Anderson said. “My son is 15-months-old and I coach AAU basketball.”
Currently he is a materials handler for Omni Logistics in San Diego. His dream job is to coach college basketball, but could see himself as an operations manager for a logistics company. He wants to stay in Southern California to be near his family.
Anderson will be in Boise to receive his degree in person this week to complete a long, but worthwhile process.
I was scared to go back to school. I had kept in touch with Sara. She has always been there. She helped me get in touch with academic advisors who were able to help me with classes. My advice to other student-athletes is to take advantage of your scholarship because it is better to get your degree sooner than later.