IN BRIEF : BYU Basketball Coach Steps Down After Failure to Survive Playoffs

Brigham Young basketball coach Ladell Anderson, having failed to survive the Western Athletic Conference playoffs and finishing with a 14-15 season, stepped down today.

BYU Athletic Director Glen Tuckett said Anderson’s unexpected departure, ending a six-year stint at the Mormon Church-owned school, should be viewed as a retirement rather than a resignation.

“This is a question of semantics,” he said at a late-morning news conference. “To me, there is a difference between a resignation and a retirement. I feel Ladell Andersen is retiring as a basketball coach and to do other things.”

Anderson, 60, denied that he was pressured into leaving.

“There was never any pressure put on me by anyone at Brigham Young or the administration,” he said.

Tuckett said selection of a new coach probably will come within a week to 10 days. He said while the job will not be opened to a national search, that does not guarantee that the selection will be “intramural.” The comment was an apparent reference to speculation that assistant coach Roger Reid will automatically replace Andersen.

Anderson’s career at BYU ended with a 114-71 record. He took his teams to three NCAA tournaments and one NIT.