The word is tossed about loosely in sports these days, attached to anyone who flirts with athletic accomplishment over time.
But to many Utahns, Ladell "Andy" Andersen truly is a legend.
Andersen and football great Merlin Olsen are the most influential and recognizable figures in the history of Utah State University athletics.
Andersen will be enshrined into the State of Utah Basketball Hall of Fame at 7 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 11, at the Salt Lake Hilton.
Andersen's legacy stretches beyond Cache Valley. He was an assistant coach for Jack Gardner at Utah from 1956 to 1961; he coached the defunct American Basketball Association's Utah Stars from 1972 to 1974; he returned to be the Aggies' athletic director from 1973 to 1983; and he coached Brigham Young University's basketball program for six years.
The 70-year-old Andersen is now a consultant with the NBA's Utah Jazz.
Andersen lives, breathes and sleeps the game. And he was always a winner, putting together a 67-percent winning record.
At Utah, while assisting Gardner, the Utes compiled a 109-33 record. All five were winning seasons, and four of the five were 20-win seasons.
"Jack taught me a lot about being so detailed with my assignments," Andersen said. "He was a great friend of mine. He was a great competitor. Nothing, within the scope of basketball, went unnoticed by him."
At USU between 1961 and 1971, Andersen became — and still is — the Aggies' winningest basketball coach ever. His record of 176-95 (.650) included eight winning seasons and six 20-win campaigns, as well as five NCAA and one NIT postseason appearances. And in those days, only 25 teams qualified for the NCAA tournament, compared with 64 today.
"We went to five NCAAs and one NIT in my 10 years," Andersen said. "But it was also the saddest of times, especially when we lost Wayne Estes (in February 1965). It was such a shock to me, because of our relationship. It was a horrible thing. And he was not only a great player, but a better human being."
USU's Estes was a charter member last year of the State of Utah Basketball Hall of Fame. The two-time All-American was electrocuted the night he went over 2,000 points for his career.
With the Stars, Andersen compiled the best two-year record (115-53, for a .684 winning percentage) in the ABA by any coach. And his Stars won the ABA Western Division title both years.
"Zelmo Beaty was such a class individual. He made coaching that team a dream," Andersen said. "He was such a great player, and he was like having a coach on the floor. I have never forgot the relationship I had with him. Willie Wise was the greatest player I ever coached in college or pro. He was the best two-way player during his time.
"And, if Willie didn't have such bad knees, he would've been a great NBA player, too. The NBA didn't see the best of Willie Wise. That's for sure. Red Robbins came to play every night . . . a great human-being. And you really can't say enough about Ron Boone. He only missed one practice — and that was in junior high — throughout his career. A great 'Iron Man.' Of course, what did he play in, 1,041 games? That's the greatest athletic feat I've ever heard of. It's a great honor to be going into the basketball hall of fame with him."
Boone also will be enshrined this year.
Andersen's two years with the Stars proved difficult for him. He followed coaching legend Bill Sharman, who led the team to the 1971 ABA Championship. And it was the Stars' first year of existence in Salt Lake City.
"People expected us to win the championship every year, and when we didn't, coach Andersen proved to be their scapegoat," Beaty said. "But it was our fault that we didn't win the championship again. Not Andy's. We had a lot of injuries when it came to the playoffs, including myself, and we couldn't overcome them. But coach was a great coach. I am proud to have played for him."
It also was a tough adjustment for Andersen, because it didn't matter that his teams won 60 and 57 games, respectfully. It was the 24 losses that consumed him.
While directing USU athletics, Andersen was like a horse-trader. He would get the farmers to donate some beef for tickets and use the beef for fund-raising efforts. He also headed up the Romney Stadium expansion to 30,000 seats and oversaw the building of the 11,000-seat Spectrum.
"But the thing I am most proud of during my 10 years as athletic director, I didn't fire a coach," Andersen said. "That meant I was able to make terrific selections," including Dutch Belnap in basketball and Phil Kruger and Bruce Snyder in football. Kruger left on his own to join the NFL's Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
BYU also benefited from Andersen's guidance. In his six years at the helm of the Cougars, his teams compiled a 114-50 record. His teams qualified for the NCAAs three times.
"It was a great experience for me to coach at BYU," Andersen said. "I loved to coach, and supervising the efforts of Mike Smith, Devon Durrant, Jeff Chapman and others was a great situation for me."
That's not a bad coaching legacy for a young man who had to walk on at Utah State in 1947, only to earn All-Skyline Conference honors twice.
"It was a very tough situation for me, because it was just after World War II, and the GIs were coming back from the war, and they were a lot stronger than I," Andersen said. "This might have been my most difficult time in basketball, because I thought I had made the traveling team, but didn't. They left me home on their December trip to the coast.
"I was heartbroken. But it made me more determined than ever. Once they returned from the trip, I started pressing full-court during practice. I flew around the court, diving for loose balls. I guess that impressed them, because after that I started. They never left me home again."
E-MAIL: torch@uswest.net