2024 Michigan commit Christian Anderson Jr. discusses competing for Team Germany this summer

Four-star 2024 Michigan guard commit Christian Anderson Jr. will be doing a lot of international travel this summer; this weekend he’s in Italy, playing with Team Germany for the second consecutive season.

Anderson and the rest of the German team are competing with four FIBA U18 teams, all of whom will be participating in the 2023 FIBA U18 Division A European Championship in Serbia at the end of this month.

Last summer, Anderson helped lead Germany to a gold medal in Division B of the FIBA U16 European Championship. He was named MVP of that tournament, averaging 16.5 points, 2.1 rebounds, 2.8 assists and 1.1 steals per game while shooting 57.1 percent from the field and 60 percent from three over eight games.

International play is a great chance for Anderson — who is being coached by a Division 1 German professional coach — to test himself. He loves competing internationally with players who have participated in these types of tournaments before.

“It’s a great honor and an opportunity to compete globally,” Anderson said to Maize n Brew. “Also having great teammates with international experience is fun. They are high level and (have) seen the world at a young age.”

Anderson isn’t focusing on improving one particular skill in his time overseas, as he’s just happy to playing against other talented teens.

“(I’m going) to keep improving in all aspects of the game,” Anderson said. “Many people don’t get this opportunity.”

When he’s not competing with Team Germany, Anderson has been playing with his hometown team, The Skill Factory — based in Georgia — in Nike EYBL’s U17 league. He was named Second Team All-EYBL at a recent Memphis session, averaging nearly 25 points per game.

Anderson has been an excellent scorer on this EYBL circuit, showcasing himself in front of other future college players. He dictates the pace of the game, utilizing his step-back to create space before consistently knocking down three-point shots. He’s also gotten better at finding his teammates, utilizing head fakes and pass fakes, taking advantage of aggressive defense and stepping through double teams to make the pass for an easy bucket.

Since he travels a lot during the summer, Anderson admitted it’s nice to play AAU closer to home.

“Glad I’m having a chance to get with the original plan of playing at home with a coach and a team that believes in what I bring to the table,” Anderson said.

Once this summer is over, Anderson will be playing at Oak Hill Academy in Virgina for his final year of high school. Several players who attended Oak Hill went on to get drafted in the NBA, including Carmelo Anthony, Josh Smith, Rajon Rando and, most recently, Cody Martin and Keldon Johnson.

It’ll be a jump in competition from what Anderson was used to. Last season, he played at Lovett High School, where he broke the scoring record as a junior. The young point guard welcomes this new challenge.

“Another great opportunity to represent an amazing tradition and compete against the best all year,” Anderson said.

He’s is one of two Michigan commits in the 2024 class, with fellow guard Durral Brooks committing in May. Anderson said he hasn’t gotten the chance to meet his future teammate yet but said, “we’ll connect soon.”

It feels like an eternity since Anderson committed to the Wolverines; as he did so in Oct. 2021 before his sophomore season even started. Nearly two years later, he has grown as a player and is excited to get back to Ann Arbor in the near future.

“Very excited,” Anderson said on his future Michigan career. “We are working on being on campus soon.”