Anderson said he always expected to come back

Northern Illinois basketball players Jake Anderson (right) and Lee Fisher share a laugh during off season training at Huskie Stadium on Friday. Anderson entered his name in the draft on April 30 but refrained from hiring an agent before pulling out of the draft on June 15. (Beck Diefenbach – bdiefenbach@daily-chronicle.com)

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DeKALB – Jake Anderson wanted to test the NBA Draft waters to see how they felt.

And while it resulted in his return to DeKalb for another season, the Northern Illinois junior-to-be shooting guard said he was happy to go through the parts of the process he did after entering his name in the draft on April 30 but refraining from hiring an agent.

“Basically I just talked with teams and tried to find out where I’m at,” Anderson said. “But the economy’s so messed up right now a lot of people didn’t get a lot of workouts.

“Did I think I’d be back? Yeah.”

Anderson did not have any individual workouts with teams, but said a number of NBA scouts and personnel spoke with him before he pulled out his name. Asked what they told him, Anderson replied: “We’re going to keep that confidential.”

His teammates thought Anderson would return, which he did on June 15, the day of the deadline to stay in or pull out of the draft.

“I don’t think he’s ready for the league,” center Sean Kowal said. “I’m not saying he can’t get there. He’s definitely got the ability to go. Right now, he’s not ready. He had a good experience, though.”

“We knew he was going to come back for one more year, maybe put his name in again,”  incoming sophomore guard Mike DiNunno said. “But it was definitely a good experience for him to get to know the skill level of playing with those guys at the Attack Center in Chicago. I think it will benefit us, if anything.”

Anderson said he trained at the Attack Center in Chicago with famous personal trainer Tim Grover, along with numerous draft prospects, including the No. 6 pick in the draft, Syracuse and now Minnesota Timberwolves guard Johnny Flynn.

While he watched the future lottery pick work, Anderson took mental notes on how Flynn approached basketball and workouts while trying to test himself.

“I felt good. I felt real good,” he said. “There never was a doubt in my mind that I could measure up with them. (I was) just seeing other players throughout the nation that have that high standard as an NBA player and what they do and what they need to do.”

The NIU guard is coming off a season that saw him earn second-team All-Mid-American Conference honors. He averaged 16.9 points and 5.4 rebounds a game while shooting 41.5 percent from the field for the 10-20 Huskies.

Now with his feet firmly back in DeKalb, Anderson said he’s excited about the upcoming season. NIU returns all but one player and Colorado transfer Xavier Silas is eligible to play after sitting out last season per NCAA transfer rules.

But the unanswered question remains whether Anderson will put his name back in the draft next year, ensuring his departure from DeKalb because players who declare for the draft a second time cannot withdraw.

Anderson didn’t rule it out.

“I couldn’t tell you that right now,” Anderson said. “I’m just focused on this season right now.”