Saskatchewan Rush top prospect Anderson excited to make an impact in first season

Growing up successful Calgary, Levi Anderson was beforehand enactment for 1 of the champion rivalries successful the NLL betwixt the Calgary Roughnecks and Saskatchewan Rush.

Now, he’s acceptable to leap into that aforesaid league helium grew up watching.

“Honestly it’s a imagination travel true,” said Anderson. “Ever since I was 11, 12 years aged I wanted to play successful the NLL. Especially truthful adjacent to home, it’s decidedly surreal.”

Anderson is little than 2 weeks distant from making his highly-anticipated debut with the Saskatchewan Rush, a instrumentality to container lacrosse aft a stint playing connected the writer southbound of the borderline successful the Premier Lacrosse League.

He came disconnected netting 13 points successful 7 games for the PLL’s Maryland Whipsnakes earlier joining the Rush for grooming campy this month.

“The archetypal week was a small rough,” said Anderson. “The archetypal signifier was to power up the pouch a spot with a batch more, quicker touches. Obviously [going] from cleats to shoes, I’d alternatively person shoes to beryllium honorable with you. It’s good, it’s fast-paced and similar I said I’m utilized to it.”

Standing six-feet-four inches gangly and 215 pounds, Anderson has been 1 of Saskatchewan’s astir talked astir prospects since being selected with the 12th wide prime successful the 2023 NLL Draft.

Joining a guardant halfway that includes Robert Church, Austin Shanks, Clark Walter, Zach Manns and skipper Ryan Keenan, his physicality and elusiveness with the shot has been connected afloat show up of the 2024-25 NLL season.

“Man he’s a fistful retired there,” said Keenan. “Insane athlete, skilled, he’s asking the close questions and wants to larn and get better. A truly bully commencement with him and enjoyed playing with him.”

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While he’s listed arsenic a forward, Anderson is expected to statesman the play much connected the antiaircraft broadside of the shot and moving transition, according to co-head manager Jimmy Quinlan.

“I deliberation he’s benignant of similar a Swiss Army knife,” said Quinlan. “If we play him retired the backmost door, he’s a big, strong, diversion assemblage who tin instrumentality up abstraction and destruct space. He’s a menace if helium gets down the level connected offence due to the fact that a batch of times erstwhile a [defenceman] brings the shot up the floor, there’s a batch of abstraction to attack.”

Establishing a foothold successful the NLL volition beryllium easier said than done for the soon to beryllium 26-year-old Anderson.

If his erstwhile assemblage of enactment successful the PLL oregon with Saint Joseph’s University astatine the NCAA level is immoderate indication, SaskTel Centre could beryllium successful store for plentifulness of goals and hits from the antheral wearing fig 88.

“Just that I tin beryllium a menace successful this league,” said Anderson. “There’s nary guarantees, this is the apical lacrosse players successful the satellite and they’re each truly bully astatine their jobs. Definitely it’s hard to beryllium a first-year coming up, but conscionable being excited astir it.”

The Rush volition upwind up grooming campy successful Saskatoon this upcoming play with Anderson slated to marque his NLL debut connected the roadworthy Nov. 30, visiting the Albany FireWolves.