Basketball fans, today marks the seventh week of the HoriZone PC series, which is a tribute to every current Horizon League coach in the style of video games. Since we have gotten the NCAA games from the original PlayStation out of the way, these games solely focus on games on PlayStation 2.
This week, we are featuring Green Bay assistant coach Aerick Sanders, who is in his first season with the Phoenix under head coach Doug Gottlieb.
Sanders played his college basketball at San Diego State from 2000 through 2004 under head coach Steve Fisher and assistant coach Marvin Menzies, who ended up becoming a head coach in his own right and also one of Sanders’ lifelong friends.
Freshman year: Unfortunately, Sanders was not in any of the video games as a playable character. What we can tell you is that he played in the team’s first 16 games as a reserve before missing the rest of the season due to an injury. He averaged 3.8 points, 3.8 rebounds, 0.8 steals, and 0.9 blocks, and 16.5 minutes per game. He had a season-high 4 blocks on November 30, 2000 against Florida Atlantic and scored 9 points on January 13, 2001 at BYU.
The Aztecs ended the 2000-01 season with an even overall 14-14 record and were 4-10 in Mountain West play, ending up in 7th place in the standings.
For Sanders’ sophomore year, we kick off the entertainment with NCAA March Madness 2002. In the 2001-02 campaign, Sanders did have somewhat of a sophomore slump. Although most of his defensive numbers stayed the same, his offensive numbers went down. He played in all 33 games off the bench and averaged just 2.5 points, 3.1 rebounds, 0.5 steals, and 0.9 blocks per game. Also, he averaged only 11 minutes per night in those contests. Sanders scored in double-figures twice and had a 10-rebound game at New Mexico State on November 24, 2001.
SDSU improved drastically from the year by finishing the 2001-02 season with a 21-12 overall record and went 7-7 in conference play which put them in a 4th-place tie with BYU. They won the Mountain West Tournament after beating UNLV in the title game and made the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 1985 before getting blown out by Illinois in the 1st Round.
Sanders’ ratings in NCAA March Madness 2002
• OVR (overall): 53
• FG (field goals): 77
• 3PT (3-point shooting): 17
• FT (free throws): 69
• ORB (offensive rebounds): 67
• DRB (defensive rebounds): 72
• HDL (ball handling): 35
• PAS (pass): 26
• STL (steal): 17
• BLK (block): 36
• DNK (dunking): 72
• INS (inside scoring): 70
• RNG (shooting range): 14
• JMP (jumping): 32
• SPD (speed): 43
• OIQ (offensive IQ): 58
• DIQ (defensive IQ): 59
• AGL (agility): 47
• STM (stamina): 67
NCAA March Madness 2002
Now we are onto Sanders in his junior year with NCAA Final Four 2003, NCAA March Madness 2003, and NCAA College Basketball 2K3. As a junior, Sanders became the starting power forward following a season-ending injury in the offseason to teammate Chris Walton and took advantage of the opportunity. Starting all 30 games that year, Sanders averaged 6.1 points, 7.6 rebounds, 0.6 steals, and 0.8 blocks, and 26.6 minutes per game. He scored in double-figures 6 times, had 7 games of 10-plus rebounds, and recorded double-doubles in wins at Houston on December 21, 2002 (12 points, 14 rebounds) and at home against Wyoming on February 3, 2003 (14 points, 14 rebounds). In addition to those improved stats, Sanders shot a career-best of 76.5 percent at the foul line (39-of-56).
However, San Diego State didn’t follow up too good from their insane run a season before. They finished 16-14 overall and 6-8 against conference opponents, settling for 5th place in the Mountain West standings. They ended up making the National Invitation Tournament where they lost at Texas Tech in the 2nd Round.
Sanders’ ratings in NCAA Final Four 2003
• Over (overall): 77
• Shoot: 88
• Leap: 86
• Steal: 88
• FT (free throw): 60
• Quick: 66
• Strength: 66
• Block: 94
• Pass: 86
• Speed: 98
• Ball handle: 83
• Range: 48
• Clutch: 80
• Stam (stamina): 43
• OReb (offensive rebounds): 94
• DReb (defensive rebounds): 87
NCAA Final Four 2003
Sanders’ ratings in NCAA March Madness 2003
• OVR (overall): 71
• FG (field goals): 68
• 3PT (3-point shooting): 62
• FT (free throws): 66
• ORB (offensive rebounds): 70
• DRB (defensive rebounds): 70
• HDL (ball handling): 63
• PAS (pass): 63
• STL (steal): 68
• BLK (block): 71
• DNK (dunking): 72
• INS (inside scoring): 70
• RNG (shooting range): 16
• JMP (jumping): 74
• SPD (speed): 70
• OIQ (offensive IQ): 70
• DIQ (defensive IQ): 73
• AGL (agility): 67
• STM (stamina): 68
NCAA March Madness 2003
Sanders’ ratings in NCAA College Basketball 2K3
• Rate (overall rating): 83
• ShCl (shot close): 91
• ShMed (shot medium): 59
• Sh3Pt (shot 3-point): 26
• ShFT (shot free throw): 60
• ShLy (shot layup): 62
• ShDnk (shot dunk): 68
• DnkRng (dunk range): 13
• DnkSt (dunk standing): 69
• HndBl (handle ball): 68
• Ps (pass): 55
• OffCl (offense clutch): 0
• Sh/Ps (shoot or pass): 81
• LwPst (low post): 82
• LwPstDef (low post defense): 81
• Def (defense): 83
• Blk (block): 84
• Stl (steal): 57
• DefCl (defense clutch): 0
• RebOff (rebound offense): 69
• RebDef (rebound defense): 74
• Spd (speed): 80
• St (stamina): 85
• Emt (emotion): 4
• Dur (durability): 85
• Foul (fouling): 77
• DefAwr (defense awareness): 79
NCAA College Basketball 2K3
Now, we go to Sanders’ senior year, where he went out having the best season of his entire NCAA career. For this part, we feature him in NCAA Final Four 2004, NCAA March Madness 2004, and ESPN College Hoops.
Important note: When I turned on ESPN College Hoops, I was able to go on the Rosters section and look at the ratings for Sanders in the game. But when I tried to actually play it, it loaded for nearly several minutes at a time, so I couldn’t get a video of myself playing with Sanders in this one. However, I was able to get a quick 30-second of him in the “Edit Player” part of the game. So with that being said, fans, I deeply apologize.
In the 2003-04 campaign, Sanders once again started all 30 games for the SDSU, averaging career-highs of 11.1 points, 9.8 rebounds (4th in the Mountain West), 1.1 steals, 1.2 blocks (6th in the Mountain West), and 34.3 minutes per game (3rd in the Mountain West). He scored in double-figures in 25 games and recorded 12 double-doubles.
Sanders’ career games were against Dayton on November 25, 2003 in the EA Sports Maui Invitational (21 points, 18 rebounds, 8-of-9 FG) and on December 31, 2003 at home against Portland (34 points, 14 rebounds, 2 blocks, 13-of-20 FG, 8-of-11 FT).
Despite Sanders’ career numbers, the Aztecs didn’t help him out very much as they ended the year under .500 as they went 14-16 overall and 5-9 in Mountain West action, finishing tied for 5th with New Mexico in the standings.
Sanders’ ratings in NCAA Final Four 2004
• Over (overall): 83
• Shoot: 87
• Leap: 92
• Steal: 46
• FT (free throw): 96
• Quick: 91
• Strength: 65
• Block: 92
• Pass: 52
• Speed: 96
• Ball handle: 75
• Range: 84
• Clutch: 84
• Stam (stamina): 98
• OReb (offensive rebounds): 90
• DReb (defensive rebounds): 96
NCAA Final Four 2004
Sanders’ ratings in ESPN College Hoops
• Rate (overall rating): 79
• OvOff (overall offense): 79
• OvDef (overall defense): 79
• ShCl (shot close): 86
• ShMed (shot medium): 70
• Sh3Pt (shot 3-point): 6
• ShFT (shot free throw): 78
• ShLy (shot layup): 79
• ShDnk (shot dunk): 89
• DnkRng (dunk range): 15
• DnkSt (dunk standing): 78
• HndBl (handle ball): 67
• Ps (pass): 66
• OffCl (offense clutch): 4
• Sc/Agg (scoring aggressiveness): 71
• LwPst (low post): 69
• LwPstDef (low post defense): 74
• Def (defense): 78
• Blk (block): 71
• Stl (steal): 67
• DefCl (defense clutch): 11
• RebOff (rebound offense): 96
• RebDef (rebound defense): 88
• Spd (speed): 74
• St (stamina): 85
• Emt (emotion): 13
• Dur (durability): 85
• Foul (fouling): 78
• DefAwr (defense awareness): 73
ESPN College Hoops
Sanders’ ratings in NCAA March Madness 2004
• OVR (overall): 72
• FG (field goals): 67
• 3PT (3-point shooting): 3
• FT (free throws): 76
• Dunk: 62
• Range: 15°
• INS. SCR (inside scoring): 70
• O. REB (offensive rebounds): 85
• JMP (jumping): 62
• STRGTH (strength): 79
• QUICK (quickness): 60
• Speed: 63
• Pass: 61
• Dribble: 50
• O. AWR (offensive awareness): 48
• D. REB (defensive rebounds): 87
• STL (steal): 36
• Block: 56
• D. AWR (defensive awareness): 70
NCAA March Madness 2004
Professional career: From 2004 through 2011, Sanders played as a pro overseas in the countries of Turkey, Israel, Spain, France, Latvia, and Portugal.
Coaching career: After his playing days ended, Sanders entered the coaching ranks and has been an assistant every where he’s been, starting out at Montana State for only the 2012-13 campaign under head coach Brad Huse.
However, Sanders is best known for his four-season stint at New Mexico State (2013-17), where he was a part of three NCAA Tournament teams: two under Menzies (2014 and 2015) and another one under Paul Weir (2017). Sanders then reunited with Menzies for a second time and was UNLV’s Director of Player Personnel from 2017 through 2019.
After taking two years off, Sanders returned to coaching with Southern Utah for the 2021-22 season under Todd Simon, where the Thunderbirds lost to Fresno State in the semifinals of The Basketball Classic.
Then, Sanders reunited with Menzies for a third time and spent the previous two seasons at Kansas City (2022-24).
Knowledge is Power: Sanders graduated from San Diego State in 2006 with a Bachelor’s degree in Political Science and also graduated from New Mexico State in 2019 with a Master’s degree in Education.
