UAB commit Dayjaun Anderson Starts play in the NJCAA Men’s Basketball Championship
By Steve Irvine
BIRMINGHAM, ALABAMA - March 22, 2025
UAB commit Dayjaun Anderson will be on the biggest junior college basketball stage on Saturday when Triton College of River Grove, Illinois plays in the NJCAA Men’s Basketball Championship in Hutchison, Kansas. Triton College, which is the 15th seed, will play No. 18 seed Columbia State of Tennessee in a first-round game.
The winner of that game will advance to Monday’s second round against No. 2 seed Cowley (Tennessee) Community College. For Anderson, no matter what happens it will be the culmination of a basketball career altering season.
“Basically, coming down here to JUCO and me looking at like my freshman year,” said Anderson, a Dayton, Ohio native, who redshirted in his lone year at Wright State. “This was really like one of the bigger years for me. I just really had to lock in this year and really focus on getting better. The main goal was to come down here, put up numbers and be able to leave and go somewhere. Going to D1 was the main thing, but also knowing that, you know, there's also other players and people that want to do that. So being able to play around others , that that want to leave as well and helping them out, that was a main thing. It was just like a huge year for me.”
Anderson is the team’s leading scorer, averaging 18.3 points per game and shooting 37.9 percent from outside the arc. He had 120 3-pointers in 33 games. He also averages 4.3 rebounds, 2.5 assists and 1.96 steals per game. He not only led his team to a 28-5 record and a NJCAA Division I Region 4 championship but also drew recruiting interest.
UAB was one of the leaders for his recruitment throughout.
“Pretty much during the beginning of our season, UAB came down and they watched me practice,” said Anderson, who took an official visit to UAB for the Blazers win over Temple on Feb. 23. “They came to a couple games and just started that bond and stuff early, which was really important. I had the chance to go down there and just check out everything.”
The blueprint that UAB has laid out for junior college recruits was a big part of the equation.
“It definitely does help, as far as recruiting wise, seeing the junior college players that have went there and impacted the program,” Anderson said. “And then also been able to move up from there, after impacting the program, that helped out a lot as well.”
With Anderson, the Blazers are getting a standout shooter. Anderson is second in the country in made 3-pointers, trailing only Auburn commit Abdul Bashir, who has 131 3-pointers for Casper (Wyoming) Community College.
“It really started from you going to the park (in Dayton) and shooting on those double rims,” Anderson said. “That’s not easy to shoot on. I didn't play basketball when I was young, so this was about 7th grade. I was never playing against guys my same age. The double rims, helped me as a shooter.”
Anderson joined the varsity at Pontiz High as a freshman and had an accomplished high school career. But recruiting interest was slow.
“I didn't have no offers,” Anderson said. “My coach was telling me some schools were reaching out. I didn't really know about the whole recruiting game, so I didn't know what to expect or when I was going to get an offer. I was (Dayton Public Schools) offensive player of the year (as a junior) and MVP (as a senior). I was first team all-city and getting all these accolades. I’m getting my name out in the city and stuff, and then I had nothing.”
Wright State eventually offered a scholarship and Anderson accepted. However, he got caught up in a numbers game and put his name into the portal following his first year. Now, he is closing his current chapter with a flourish and looking forward to beginning a new chapter in Birmingham.
Like the rest of UAB’s current signee class he will come to Birmingham fresh off a winning season. UAB’s two high school commitments – Salim London and Lance Carr – played a key role in a state championship season. London helped Hoover High win its third consecutive Alabama Class 7A title and finish the season unbeaten. Carr was one of the top playerss on a Kimball High team that won the Texas 4A-1 state title for the second time in three seasons. Carr was selected as the District Defensive Player of the Year. Evan Chatman came up just short of leading his McLennan (Texas) Community College team to Hutchinson. McLennan finished 27-6 after losing to South Plains College in the NJCAA Region V championship. Chatman had 29 points and 12 rebounds in the loss. South Plains, which is the former home of current Blazers Ja’Borri McGhee and Christian Coleman, qualified for the national tournament with the win. Frank Phillips College, which lost to McLennan in the semifinals, was given an at-large berth but McLennan was not.