Philipsburg-Osceola hires T.J. Anderson from Juniata Valley to coach boys’ basketball team
Philipsburg-Osceola has found its new boys’ basketball coach, and it’s a familiar face for two of its top players.
T.J. Anderson was hired by the school board Tuesday night to lead the program after Matt Curtis, who coached the team for six seasons, stepped down last week.
Anderson comes to the district after most recently coaching Juniata Valley High School, as well as the JV Stingers AAU travel basketball program, which he still leads. Ryan and Jeremy Whitehead, who are heading into their senior and junior years, respectively, both play for the Stingers and have plenty of familiarity with the new head coach.
Anderson said the brothers had an impact on his decision to take his new position.
“Those two are great athletes, great people, and have a great family,” Anderson told the Centre Daily Times. “I feel comfortable with them and we’ve built a great relationship. I felt like we could take that to another level. Not only them, but we also have some key pieces around them.”
While the Whiteheads had an impact, so did the atmosphere Curtis spent six years cultivating. Anderson has been a basketball mentor to Curtis and said he is happy to continue building the program the former Mountie head coach had trending in the right direction.
Curtis coached the Mounties to a 10-13 record last season, after they had won just 15 games in the previous five seasons.
“I’ve always been a mentor to Coach Curtis and his coaching staff,” Anderson said. “It was only fitting for me to step right in. It’s always been one big family.”
The transition from Curtis to Anderson should be seamless for Philipsburg-Osceola. Curtis instilled many of the same philosophies Anderson uses, and that should allow for continuity between the old and the new.
Offensively, Anderson plans to keep up the same pace-and-space offense that Curtis implemented, increasing the tempo of the game and using 3-point shooting to create driving lanes and space in the half court and transition.
“We want to get up and down the floor,” he said. “We want to use our size and athleticism. We want to spread the floor apart and attack the hoop as much as possible. We want to do that early so we can train kids and start to develop some shooters and try to spread the floor out late in the season. That way we can make a nice run in the playoffs and toward a district championship.”
Anderson plans to keep up that pace defensively with pressure and varying defenses. Curtis frequently used several defenses in each game when he was the team’s head coach, and Anderson plans to do the same.
“That’s great coaching,” Anderson said. “It’s just like any great pitcher has different pitches they can throw different pitches in different spots. ... We want to be hard to scout. That’s our philosophy. We’re going to press you from the time you get off the bus to the time you get on the bus. If we need to slow the game down and use our length, then we can do that as well by using some zone.”
The similarities between Anderson and Curtis should allow the Mounties to continue their growth as a program. While Anderson is proud of and grateful who what he accomplished at Juniata Valley, he’s looking forward to seeing where he can take the Mounties.
“I want to thank my coaching staff back at Juniata Valley for all the work they’ve done with me,” Anderson said. “We built something special and I’m looking forward to building something special with the Mounties as well.
“I’m excited, but I’m also nervous. I think it’ll be a great thing for all of us. I just want to thank Coach Curtis and his coaching staff for allowing me to be a part of this family.”
