UNC Basketball: Did Cole Anthony throw shade at Duke Blue Devils?

Did former UNC basketball player Cole Anthony throw shade at the Duke Blue Devils using just one word?

Cole Anthony spent just one year at the University of North Carolina, and only played in 22 games due to an injury he sustained in mid-December. That injury, a partially torn meniscus in his right knee, forced him to undergo surgery and miss 11 games in his lone collegiate season. That 11 games that he missed, however, could have been the remainder of the 2019-20 campaign; but it wasn’t. That’s because Anthony made the selfless decision to rehab from the injury, and return to the Tar Heels’ lineup less than two months later.

I use the word selfless because Anthony was a surefire one-and-done player, and a future first round selection in the 2020 NBA Draft. But instead of slowly nursing himself back to health, and prematurely beginning his preparation for the draft, Anthony risked it all to compete alongside his teammates for the final 13 games of a season that was already a lost-cause by the time he returned.

But that the Tar Heels were just 10-10 on February 1 when Anthony rejoined the lineup wasn’t enough to keep him off the court. And why? Well, he wanted to be there for his teammates and coaches. And his commitment to the school — albeit one that would only span the course of a year — was deep, and one that he took very seriously.

Fast forward about a year to when Duke freshman forward Jalen Johnson made the decision to leave his team with eight games left in the regular season, and begin preparing for the upcoming NBA Draft. Johnson, who reportedly packed up his belongings and left campus on Monday morning, exited the Duke basketball program amid a difficult stretch of games that saw the Blue Devils lose six of nine, and drop to ninth-place in the Atlantic Coast Conference standings.

Johnson had also lost his spot in the Blue Devils’ starting lineup three games prior, which turned out to be a 91-87 loss against North Carolina at Cameron Indoor Stadium. And in his final game with the team on Saturday, Johnson logged just eight minutes as a reserve, scoring three points off of three free throws in a 16-point win over the NC State Wolfpack. The last couple weeks of Johnson’s tenure in Durham capped off a glorious collapse that began on such a high note just three months prior — a 19-point, nine-rebound performance in his college debut against Coppin State.

With all of that in consideration, it makes Cole Anthony’s decision to not only stick around campus, but return to the Tar Heels’ lineup after a potentially serious injury all the more admirable. Sure, each player has the right to make the decision that best suits them, and none of us are in any position to judge them for it. But we can certainly appreciate the hell out of a guy like Anthony, who chose his teammates and his coaches over securing the bag at the next level. It also makes UNC fans happy to see Anthony drop a little shade at the Blue Devils with just a single word and an emoji on Twitter, which he left open for interpretation on Tuesday night.

The tweet simply stated the word “loyalty”, and next to it was an emoji of a crown. Was Anthony’s tweet aimed directly at the Duke basketball program and its recent situation with Johnson and his sudden departure? My guess is yes. And like so many other North Carolina fans, it made me grin from ear to ear.

We can all acknowledge that the Tar Heels were historically terrible in Anthony’s one season with the program. But that’s not a reflection of him, or at least not a reflection of only him. The Tar Heels endured a perfect storm of injuries and illness and bad luck that could have taken out even the most talented of teams — and last year’s iteration of the Tar Heels were certainly not that.

But regardless of his contributions on the court, or the team’s overall success while he was there, we can all appreciate the commitment that he had to his school, his team, his teammates and his coaches. It’s that aspect of Cole Anthony’s time with the Tar Heels that has left an indelible impact both on the program, and its fans, and it will prevail for years to come.

Thank you, Cole Anthony. You’re a Tar Heel for life.

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