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After 31 years of seemingly endless knowledge on and off the basketball court, the North Branch boys basketball program will finally be headed by someone other than Bill Baumann. Albeit it someone who wasn't even born yet when Baumann took over the program.

Baumann, who accrued a 414-323 record as the Vikings head man, stepped aside after the 2009-10 campaign, and North Branch has hired his successor.

David Anderson steps in as the head basketball coach at North Branch after spending the past two seasons at Division I Lehigh University in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania.

Following in Baumann's steps won't be an easy task, but Anderson has already started the process.

"I don't think you can replace someone like Bill Baumann. I have had the opportunity to meet with him several times over the last few weeks and have been amazed by his knowledge, humility, and eagerness to help me out," Anderson explained. "Having him as a resource will be invaluable during the coaching transition. I can tell from everyone that I have talked to that Coach Baumann is revered not only in North Branch, but across the state as a tremendous coach. I am anxious to continue to build my relationship with him and use his experience and knowledge to continue to help the North Branch program."

While at Lehigh, Anderson served as the Director of Basketball Operations and helped guide the Mountain Hawks to the 2009-2010 Patriot League regular season and post-season tournament championships.

He was part of the staff that led them to their first NCAA tournament bid since 2004, and only their third overall this past year when the Mountain Hawks went 22-11, including a first round 90-74 loss to the Kansas Jayhawks.

Prior to his time at Lehigh, Anderson spent time at Idaho State University, where he served as the basketball program's video coordinator.

Previously, he also spent time as an assistant coach for two successful high school programs: Living Word Lutheran School in Jackson, WI; and Century High School in Pocatello, Idaho. Anderson played his college basketball at Concordia University in Seward, Nebraska where he was a part of the Bulldogs 2004-2005 National runner-up team.

Anderson graduated from Concordia with a bachelor's degree in Business Administration and teaching certificate. This past May he completed his graduate work and received a Master's in Educational Leadership from Lehigh University.

Anderson's career hasn't just been an easy transition through the ranks either. He's been all over the country in his short amount of time gathering basketball knowledge from everyone he can.

"I have taken an unusual path in the coaching world. I had always wanted to coach basketball because of the tremendous opportunity to have a real lasting impact on the development of young men. Initially, I believed I wanted to become a high profile college head coach like two of my biggest role models: John Wooden and Mike Krzyzewski. However, breaking into college coaching at the D-I level is extremely tough to do," he explained.

"At the time my wife and I were living in Pocatello, ID and I convinced the staff at Idaho State University to let me help them out on a volunteer basis. They were great and I learned a lot from them, but shortly after I started there I went through a series of interviews with Coach Brett Reed at Lehigh University for the Director of Basketball Operations position. I ended up being offered and accepting the position and my wife and I moved from Idaho to Bethlehem, Pennsylvania.

"My experience at Lehigh was invaluable, the business of high level college basketball is fascinating, demanding, and extremely competitive. I learned more about running a program in my two years there than I had in my entire life. However, as great as the players at Lehigh were, I realized that my real passion was in working with young men at the high school level. My wife and I made the decision that we wanted to move back to the midwest, closer to family and find a community where we could settle down and really build a basketball program that helps prepare young men for their future after high school."

Anderson inherits a team that went 8-19 last year under Baumann, including a 3-14 mark in the North Suburban Conference. The Vikings have fallen on rough times lately, as they haven't had a winning season since winning the Rum River Conference championship in 2003-04.

Although Anderson isn't from the area, he sees some plenty of similarities with some of his past experiences. "To be honest I was fairly unfamiliar with the area until we moved here last month, my wife's family is from the area and that is what initially prompted our move to the area. I started searching for high school coaching/teaching openings back in February, and was in contact with several schools," Anderson said. "But I was immediately drawn to North Branch because of similarities I saw between the school/town and where I grew up in Nebraska. I am originally from a very small community and the city of North Branch reminded me of the same type of people I grew up with."

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