Ben Anderson, who started 44 of 45 games at UAPB and built a professional career in Japan, died Saturday on Lake Ouachita in Garland County. He was 30.
Arkansas Game and Fish Commission communications director Keith Stephens confirmed Monday that Anderson was pulled underneath a tube being pulled behind a boat, saying that Anderson was not wearing a life jacket and apparently drowned, citing a preliminary report. UAPB’s athletic department acknowledged Anderson’s death on social media Monday.
Anderson’s career at UAPB was the stuff of lore.
He made one of the two most important plays in the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff’s Division I football era, both on Dec. 8, 2012, in Birmingham, Ala.
In the Southwestern Athletic Conference championship game against Jackson State University, Anderson found Willie Young running on a Z-post pattern, and Young turned Anderson’s pass into a 95-yard touchdown play with exactly 2 minutes remaining, tying the game at 21-21 with the extra point. UAPB won 24-21 in overtime on the other key play, Tyler Strickland’s 26-yard field goal.
Anderson, the game’s MVP, had cemented his place in Golden Lions history as a hero.
“He was a winner and a champion, and that’s the best legacy anyone can have on a university,” said Bill Ross, one of Anderson’s close friends and a linebacker on the championship team.
Anderson graduated at the top of his class from of Little Rock Parkview High School in 2010, according to UAPB. He was heading into his first season as quarterbacks coach at Mills High School in the Pulaski County Special School District. Before joining Cortez Lee’s staff, Anderson was the 2017 MVP of Japan’s X-League with the Panasonic Impulse and came back to Arkansas working as a private quarterback instructor through his QBREEZE Training business.
“He was a great guy,” said Ross, a Wetumpka, Ala., native who had transferred to UAPB from New Mexico Military Institute in 2011. “He was a happy guy. There was not one person I know that didn’t like Ben.” Ross said he got a phone call at 6 a.m. Sunday about Anderson’s passing. The two were asked to plan a 10-year reunion of UAPB’s only outright SWAC championship football team during the fall.
“We were in cahoots,” Ross said. “Now, we’re going to have to plan something special to remember Ben.” Monte Coleman was Anderson’s head coach for all four seasons he played (2011-14) and credited the SWAC championship to his quarterback, who redshirted as a true freshman.
“I watched him mature from a freshman to a senior,” Coleman said. “He had a lot of opportunities from the Division II ranks to Division I, so we were elated to sign him. He was smart in the classroom and on the football field. He was a good guy to be around.” Anderson set school records during his UAPB career with 9,478 yards and 62 touchdowns on 716-of-1,278 passing with 43 interceptions, according to NCAA career statistics. He also ran 583 times for 1,989 yards and 22 touchdowns.
The passing and rushing yardage gave Anderson 11,467 yards of total offense, topping 3,000 total yards in each of his last two seasons. In addition, he was named SWAC Offensive Freshman of the Year in 2011 and two-time SWAC Preseason Offensive Player of the Year.
His best season was the year after UAPB won the SWAC. Despite the Lions’ 2-9 record due to a number of player ineligibilities, Anderson recorded 3,586 total yards — including 2,777 on 210-of-357 passing with 19 touchdowns and 11 interceptions; and 183 rushes for 809 yards and 9 touchdowns.
“ Th e s e a s o n s t h at weren’t as good, he still performed,” Ross said. “He still leaves a legacy.” Ross said he would push Anderson in practice daily as a linebacker. It apparently left the quarterback with a false sense of what Ross thought of him.
“I was hard on him,” Ross said. “He told me one time, ‘I thought you hated me.’ I said, ‘What are you talking about? I love you.’ I went out to mentor him, but he mentored me and I know that.” After graduating with a degree in secondary education and social studies in 2015, Anderson posted a 23-7 record over three years in Japan, one in Tokyo and two in Osaka, according to UAPB.
“Your presence will be missed, and your memories will be treasured,” UAPB’s statement on Anderson’s death read in part. “Love you always, forgetting you never. You were a tremendous friend, brother, son, student-athlete, coach and teammate. Forever in our hearts, 11 (jersey number).” Lee, a former Dollarway High School quarterback and coach, had hired Anderson during this offseason at Mills. He called Anderson’s death a “deep” loss.
“ He s ta r te d o n t h e ground running,” Lee said. “He ran our offseason program. Our quarterbacks had a process. He had a lot of ideas. He would say, ‘Hey, Coach,’ I think this would fit well into our offensive scheme.’ “I was really looking forward to this guy taking off with our program. I saw a lot of potential in him.”