Sun | Sports

By Shawn O'Neal - Jul 2nd, 1998

* Student athletes like Bremerton High School's Lars Anderson aren't unique - they come around every 20 years or so.

It has to be assumed that Lars Anderson isn't perfect. This must be done because there's really no proof that he isn't.

OK, sure, athletically he's been involved in a few losses. He's never won a state title and was a key player on two Bremerton High teams that came agonizingly close to making the state 3A basketball and baseball tournaments this year, only to stumble inches from the threshold.

So why was Anderson selected as The Sun's male high school athlete of the year by a group of four community members?

Maybe Larry Gallagher, the newly retired Bremerton basketball coach, has the answer.

"He's the most well-rounded individual I've ever coached," Gallagher said. "There's no doubt about it. In the 20 years I've coached, you always hope to get a couple of guys like Lars Anderson."

And there it is.

Gallagher is hardly alone. Go ahead, call any coach who has ever had anything to do with Anderson. Talk to his teammates. It's all the same.

"He's the kind of kid," Bremerton baseball coach Mike McKnight said, "that anybody would be proud to call their son."

So, file Anderson under T - for Too Good to be True. Then realize one thing - he is. True, that is. If there was ever an insincere bone in his body, it must have been removed before he hit high school.

Here's an excerpt from a recent conversation with Anderson:

Newspaper photographer: Just stand there naturally.

Anderson: (Holding his tennis racquet and a ball) Like this?

NP: Yeah. But can you do it a little more cocky?

Anderson: Cocky?

NP: Yeah, with a little more attitude.

Anderson: I guess. But that's really not me.

In an age where image is everything, Anderson couldn't care less. Sure, he has one. He was the senior class vice-president at BHS and was one of six valedictorians. He's as high-profile as students come. He just doesn't get involved in the bravado that prevails in sports these days.

"The game that sticks out most in my mind was when we were up at Bainbridge Island this year," Gallagher said. "Coming into the week I knew Lars had to score for us early if we were going to win. I took him aside and told him we needed him to shoot the ball early. He went out and hit four straight shots in the first quarter and really opened things up for (leading scorers) Miah (Davis) and Victor (Davis). Then he went back to rebounding and playing defense. He's just that kind of kid. Ask him to do something and it's as good as done. The ultimate team player."

Whose future is in an individual sport.

Though he played for McKnight's baseball team this year, Anderson is considered one of the top five tennis players in the region. He'll be on scholarship at the University of Portland in the fall, where second-year coach Aaron Gross thinks he signed a big one.

"It's pretty much the consensus that, as a tennis player, he's the best athlete in the region," Gross said. "There are guys like (Olympic High's two-time state champions) Laith (Al-Agba), who have spent more time on their games and are more polished than Lars. But there is nobody even close to what he brings to the court athletically. It's a cliche, but he has a pro body. In tennis you see guys with speed but no height. Or they'll have good strokes but they can't move. Lars has it all and he has so much room for growth."

So what are you saying, coach?

"Lars will play for us immediately," Gross said. "He could play anywhere from the top to middle of our lineup as a freshman. What I want to concentrate on is the future. He has a realistic chance to be an all-american and be a threat at the NCAA tournament."

Most of the talk surrounding Anderson is of his work ethic, attitude and athleticism. His bloodlines haven't hurt either.

Craig and Anne Anderson's children have done well in just about everything they've attempted.

Maiya, 22, was a national champion swimmer at the Air Force Academy. Asha, 21, is a student at the Evergreen State College while Leif, 12, figures to give baseball more than the one-year spin his brother did.

Not that Lars regrets a thing.

He had always loved baseball and opted to put the tennis racquet away for a year to give it a shot.

He didn't have the best statistical year at the plate, but still managed to be a team leader because, as McKnight says, "He's Lars."

He's also completely fulfilled.

"This was probably the best year of my life so far," Lars said. "We came close to making state in baseball and basketball. But that's part of the whole picture. We put it all on the line. When you do that and things don't go your way, you can't have any regrets. You just move on and keep the good memories."

Anderson has supplied plenty of those in his time at BHS.

"Just by his personality and the way he treats people...that's so much more important than what he does as an athlete," Gallagher said. "He just has an air about him that people respond to. He's meant a lot to Bremerton High School."