A dream turned reality

Bennett Andersen grew up dreaming of being a Gator.

The son of two UF alumni, Andersen (MSM ’25) was the valedictorian at Jesuit High School in Tampa and being a Gator was always in the back of his mind. After pursuing some Division III basketball opportunities out of high school, Andersen instead elected to enroll in Gainesville.

“UF always made a ton of sense because it was a great school and I grew up a Gator,” Andersen said.

Andersen earned his bachelor’s degree in industrial and systems engineering and is currently in Warrington’s Master of Science in Management program.

When he enrolled at Florida, Andersen wanted to stay around the sport he loved. He accepted a student manager position with the basketball team under then coach Mike White and kept the position when Todd Golden and the new Florida staff took over in 2022.

Andersen joined other managers and coaches in pickup basketball games during the offseason, and the coaching staff quickly realized he was talented. They first asked him to join the scout team during his junior year, but during the summer of 2023, Golden officially asked Andersen to join the team as a walk-on.

“It’s been awesome,” Andersen said. “My first summer on the team, I gained 15 pounds of muscle from lifting a lot and eating at the dining hall. I got in a lot better shape and better at basketball quickly from playing against really talented players.”

The highlight came on December 22, 2023 when Andersen checked into a game for the first time with the Gators holding a 43-point lead over Grambling State. After a backdoor cut to the basket on the team’s final possession, Andersen made a layup to score the first points of his Florida career.

“It was definitely the highlight of my career, but also just being on the bench for big games like when we won at (No. 10) Kentucky last season and beat (No. 1) Tennessee at home this year,” he said.

Andersen knew he only had one season of basketball eligibility remaining after receiving his bachelor’s degree, so he started searching for a program that could benefit him in the future. He heard from multiple people, including former basketball walk-on Jack May, about the Master of Science in Management program fitting his needs.

“I wanted to get a master’s that would be worthwhile to me and it’s nice to have a general business background,” Andersen said. “It pairs well with my engineering degree because there’s a broad list of things I can do with it.”

Andersen is unsure what he’ll do after graduation but is currently considering jobs in basketball, possibly roles in an NBA front office.