Coach Daniel Pittsford, or as his players like to call him, Coach Pitt, will be leaving Anderson next year after a 13-year tenure, including nine years as the head basketball coach.
Coach Pitt started his coaching career at Lanier High School (Now Navarro High School), working under Head Coach Matt Sandoval. Pittsford had known Sandoval in college, which led to his hiring as the assistant varsity coach for the 2009-2010 season. At the end of the season, Coach Sandoval was informed that he would not be invited back as the head coach the following year. He told Pittsford to apply for the job, but he did not get it. At this time, Coach Sanford (retiring this year) had just stepped down as the head basketball coach for Anderson, and Coach Leal Anderson would replace him. This meant that there was an open assistant coaching position that Pittsord applied for and was able to get.
You might think that Coach Pitt stayed patient until the head coach position opened up, but his journey to becoming our head coach was much more unconventional, and he describes it as “being in the right place at the right time.” He spent three years, from the 10-11 season to the 12-13 season, as the assistant coach under Coach Anderson. Due to Coach Anderson being so young, Pittsford did not think he would be abandoning the head coaching post anytime soon, so he applied for the Hayes head coaching job. He did not get that position but got the assistant coach position due to a friendship with Robert Lucero (current Westlake head coach). Then, during the following offseason, something crazy happened, which Coach Pitt says he “remembers like it was yesterday.” On February 3rd, 2014, Coach Leal Anderson was named the next athletic director for AISD. Coach Pitt immediately emailed Mrs. Houser, the principal at the time to express his interest in the head coaching job. He got an interview and was named head coach right after spring break.
As an assistant and head coach at Anderson, Coach Pitt has had a lot of success which he accredits to the “great players” he has had. As the assistant, he coached players like John Gramlich, an all-state selection and a Central Texas top 50 athlete for the 2012-2013 season. He also coached Rasmus Bach, an all-region player, for multiple years and is now playing overseas in New Zealand for the Brisbane Bullets. As a head coach, he had players who bought into the program, like Kevin Fisher and Foster Allen, who were members of a deep playoff run their senior year.
Although talented players helped Coach Pitt bring success to the Anderson Basketball program, his success in cultivating a winning culture is undoubtedly the biggest reason for this type of success. He emphasized getting guys into the gym more often to put up shots and rewarded those who did, saying, “We made it about earning your right to play.” Coach Pitt believes that this hardworking mentality he put into his players helped many of them maximize their potential. A great example of this was shown through Max Smith. In Max’s junior year, he finished with All-Region and District Offensive MVP accolades, but Anderson missed the playoffs for the first time in five years. This seemed to light a fire under him, and as a senior, he led Anderson to the regional quarterfinals, earning All-State and District Offensive MVP honors again. Coach Pitt says the hardworking example Max exuded daily set a precedent still felt in the program today, “The guys after Max just fed off his mentality and kept the culture going.” Another significant change Coach Pittsford implemented was the use of the weight room. He knew his players must be strong to compete with teams filled with length and size. This made getting in the weight room consistently one of his top priorities, and he attributes it to many of his teams’ successes.
In Coach Pittsford’s time at Anderson, he has been a part of many good memories and moments, but he highlighted a few that he says will “stick with him forever.” In his first year as a head coach, Anderson went 5-3 in the first round of districts, but to start the second round, they lost to Akins at Akins. The whole team, including their star Kevin Fisher, did not play well, and as a first-year head coach, Pittsford was freaking out. When the team returned to Anderson, they packed their stuff in the locker room and got ready to go home. The last guy out of the locker room was Foster Allen, and he told Coach Pitt something that he did not understand at first, “He comes up to me, pats me on the back, and says it’ll be ok, coach.” At that time, Coach Pitt was thinking, “What is this guy talking about?” but sure enough, they turned it around the next game, beating a Hayes team that had beaten them in their previous meeting. This game started a seven-game winning streak, including a huge road win against Lake Travis in which Foster Allen hit the game-winner on a back cut. The Trojans made it to the second round of the playoffs, where they barely lost to an elite Atascocita team with Carsen Edwards on it, who is currently playing for the Boston Celtics. Coach Pitt talked about how much he enjoyed every moment of the 2020-2021 and 2021-2022 seasons, where the Trojans, led by Jack Francis, went undefeated in their district for two straight years.
Coach Pittsford also highlighted this past season as a very memorable one. Anderson started district play with a 1-5 record and a slim chance to make the playoffs, but the team seemed to flip a switch during the second half of the season, as they finished with a 7-3 record, including a massive win against Lake Travis at home. This hot streak put them in a play-in game against Dripping Spring to make the playoffs, which they won, and Coach Pitt says that game was a very special moment for him and the team. When asked what he thinks flipped the switch for the team, he mentioned their buy-in. “I don’t know if we’ve ever gotten more out of a team than we did this year.” Players like Bennett Blackerby and Mitchell Whitlow led by example, which helped the team reach its full potential.
During my conversation with Coach Pittsford, he mentioned that although, as a player, your main goal is to win, as a coach, it’s different. “We want to help players reach their potential, and if guys have opportunities, we want to ensure they go and get them.” Although, as a coach, he has this mindset, having played basketball, he realizes how stressful winning can be and tries to break down the steps to success to lower the pressure. He separates the preparation process for games into six phases so that players can focus and concentrate on each step, “I tell them we’re just going to have a good lift, and we’re just going to have a good practice, and we’re just going to have a good film session. If you break it down into those chunks, it’s not stressful, and there’s not as much pressure.” Coach Pitt also focuses on teaching his players how to be leaders. “They’re going to be fathers. They’re going to be husbands. They’re going to be handling really stressful things.” Pittsford knows that basketball will no longer be a huge part of their lives after high school or college and wants to ensure their time in the Anderson Basketball program prepares them to be men.
Although Coach Pittsford has helped build a great basketball program filled with memories and success, he is, unfortunately, leaving to go coach and teach at Hyde Park. This is because he has a seven-year-old daughter who goes to Hyde Park and a ten-month-old son he wants to spend more time with. “The main reason is to be with my kids, which aligns with the Hyde Park system.” Initially, Coach Pitt resigned to teach precalculus at Hyde Park, but the head coaching job opened up, and he decided to take the opportunity. He said, “Anderson has been amazing, but I’m looking forward to a new start with my kids.”
Even though Coach Pittsford intended to get away from coaching, it seems like he can’t get away from it, and he accredits this to his high school coach, Jeff Bell. When he got to high school, Coach Pitt dreamed of playing in the NBA but realized that goal was unrealistic. “I realized that making the NBA was not going to happen, but I still wanted to be around basketball.” As a senior, Pittsford transferred to Brock High School and played under coach Jeff Bell. He said playing under Coach Bell cemented his desire to become a coach. “He believed in me on a level that I didn’t believe in myself.” This pushed Coach Pitt to want to do the same for his players, and he plans to continue this mentality with his new start at Hyde Park.
