Zavier Anderson is in his first season as an assistan t coach with the FIU men's basketball program. He previously served as FIU men's basketball's Video Coordinator/Player Development for two seasons and assistant director of basketball operations during his first year with the Blue and Gold. Anderson joined the Panthers after serving as director of basketball operations for the previous three seasons at Conference USA member UAB, and in the same capacity at The Citadel during the 2014-15 campaign.
During his first season with the Panthers, FIU went 20-14 overall with a 10-8 Conference USA record. The team’s 20 wins marked just the third time in school history that FIU logged 20-or-more victories and were tied for the second most in a single season, while the 10 C-USA wins was the most since joining the conference. In addition, the Panthers advanced to only their second postseason tournament in program history taking part in the Collegeinsider.com Tournament (CIT) and advancing to the second round. During the first round of the CIT, the Blue and Gold won their first-ever postseason tournament game with an 87-81 victory at Texas State.
The winning ways continued during Anderson’s second year at FIU as the team went 19-13 before the remainder of the 2019-20 season was cancelled to the COVID-19 outbreak. The Panthers squad finished with a 9-9 league record, earning the fifth seed for the program’s highest ever seeding for the C-USA Tournament. During the conference tournament, FIU took down Rice 85-76 for the programs second ever win during the conference tournament.
In 2021-21, Anderson saw the team post a 9-17 overall record and a 2-15 record against league opponents. He mentored a team that broke a pair of program records during the squad's dominant 111-34 victory over Carver. The Panthers' 34 assists and 20 made three-pointers were the new program records set. The previous mark for assists was set in 1990, while the last record from three was set at Cleveland State in 2019.
In his first year at UAB, Anderson was part of a staff that led the Blazers to the school's first-ever Conference USA Tournament Championship and an impressive, 60-59, win against No. 3 seed Iowa State in the second round of the 2015 NCAA Tournament.
Anderson helped UAB reach new heights in during the 2015-16 season, as the Blazers won C-USA and set a school record with 26 wins, including 16 in league play. UAB would go on to earn a bid to the NIT to mark the second consecutive year in which the Blazers have qualified for the postseason.
A 2011 graduate of Clemson, Anderson went to The Citadel after spending two seasons as a graduate assistant under Shaka Smart at VCU.
Anderson was part of a VCU staff that advanced to the third round of the NCAA Tournament during the 2011-12 and 2012-13 seasons. He assisted Smart and his staff in the development of players such as Darius Theus (CAA Tournament MVP, 2011-12; Lefty Driesell Defensive All-America Team, 2012-13) and Melvin Johnson (Atlantic-10 All-Rookie Team, 2012-13).
Anderson was involved in the day-to-day operations of the Rams' basketball program. He also assisted in the preparation of film and scouting reports and aided the coaching staff during practices and drills.
A walk-on at Clemson, Anderson appeared in 56 games, scored 47 points, handed out 44 assists and forced 26 steals during his four-year career. During his senior season in 2010-11, he earned the Most Improved Player Award due in large part to playing the most minutes of any walk-on in Tigers history. He made four starts for former head coach Oliver Purnell and was part of a Clemson team that finished 22-12 en route to winning its first NCAA Tournament game in 14 seasons.
