UNC Basketball 2019-20 Player Review: Cole Anthony

We continue our UNC basketball player season in review series with one of the newest members of the program, freshman Cole Anthony

Justin Pierce | Jeremiah Francis | Anthony Harris | Brandon Huffman | Andrew Platek | Christian Keeling | Leaky Black | Armando Bacot

Five star recruit Cole Anthony pledged his commitment to North Carolina back in April of 2019 and did so as the No. 3 overall player in the 2019 class. He was a big addition to what was a very important class for Roy Williams, losing five of his top six scorers from a Sweet Sixteen team.

Now just about a year later, many are asking what could have been for this UNC team had Anthony not suffered a knee injury.

Things got off to a great start for Anthony is his career at North Carolina. In the season opener against Notre Dame, he put the team on his back in the second half, willing them to a victory in the Dean Dome. He dazzled with his ball handling abilities and showed off his impressive jumper, being able to score from all over the court.

Despite UNC’s struggles early on with losses to Michigan, Ohio State and Virginia, Anthony was a bright spot. He was huge in UNC’s tough win over Oregon and as long as he stayed healthy, UNC was expected to get better as a team.

But that didn’t happen.

Anthony suffered a knee injury sometime between November and early December. There have been reports that it happened in the Dec. 8 loss at Virginia but nothing was ever said officially about when it happened. Following that loss, Anthony missed the next 11 games as he underwent surgery on his knee.

The Tar Heels went 4-7 in that span with wins over UCLA, Yale, Miami and N.C. State. UNC was just not the same team without Anthony and then injuries to both Anthony Harris and Jeremiah Francis made things even tougher.

Anthony returned on Feb. 1 with UNC losing a tight one late to Boston College. The point guard struggled in his first few games back but seemed to find his ryhtym as time we on. It wasn’t going to be easy to overcome a knee injury but Anthony did get better towards the end of the year.

For a player that was projected to be a lottery pick, and still is, the decision to come back and play out his freshman season is something UNC fans should not forget. He could have easily sat out the rest of the season and watch his teammates endure this tough year but instead he opted to play.

As Anthony started to find his groove late, so did UNC. They won four of five to close out their year before losing to Syracuse in the ACC Tournament.

On the year, Anthony averaged 18.5 points, 4.0 assists and 5.7 rebounds per game this year while shooting 38 percent. Yeah, he had his ups and his downs but one has to wonder what would have happened if he stayed healthy. Would UNC have won more of those games he missed? Could they have turned things around and made a run at the NCAA Tournament.

We won’t know. But it certainly feels like we were robbed of a special year from the freshman point guard.

While we head into April, Anthony is likely to bolt for the NBA after just one season in Chapel Hill with the Tar Heels. He’s still projected as a lottery pick and should find himself going Top 10 whenever the draft takes place. Anthony is a legit NBA prospect and should fit in with a team seeking a true point guard. Having spot up shooters will help Anthony’s game overall as he can count on player draining open shots on pick and pops. Even with no NBA Combine, Anthony’s raw skill-set is something teams will love.

His announcement has been put on hold due to the COVID-19 pandemic and he even posted a special message about how he wants to help as many in the world as he can, putting that first over his NBA decision.

No matter how this year went, it’s tough not to admire what he’s done on and off the court while always being a Tar Heel.

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