Cole Anthony, a top five player and the best point guard in the Class of 2019, announced on Tuesday morning that he will be playing his college basketball for North Carolina.
Anthony is the son of former NBA player Greg Anthony. The 6-foot-3 lead guard is an exceptional athlete that spent his senior season at Oak Hill Academy after playing his first three high school seasons for Archbishop Molloy in New York City. He joins five-star big man Armando Bacot and four-star guard Jeremiah Francis in North Carolina’s recruiting class.
Anthony is the absolute perfect fit for the Tar Heels at the point guard spot. He’s speedy, he’s attack-minded, he’s spent his entire life with the ball in his hands and he’s a big-time scorer with explosive athleticism. He’s not quite as big or as fast as Coby White, but he should seamlessly fit into the role that White is vacating. I’m not sure there is a better fit when it comes to system than Anthony playing for the Tar Heels.
This is a major addition for a Carolina team that is likely going to lose five of their top six players off of last year’s roster. They desperately need a point guard to fill the void left by White, who was not expected to be a one-and-done when he enrolled, and Anthony is that guy. With him in the fold, the Tar Heels are the No. 13 team in the NBC Sports Preseason Top 25.
The best part about Anthony, as I detailed in this feature on him from last summer, is that he doesn’t have an ego, and he works as hard as anyone in the country despite the fact that he comes from the upper crust of Manhattan’s elite.
“His work ethic is on a level that’s unmatched for his age,” Terrance “Munch” Williams, who runs the PSA Cardinals program, told me. “His mom could be Celie from The Color Purple and his dad could be Prop Joe from The Wire, it wouldn’t matter. He is who he is.”
“The greatest compliment that I ever got about him,” Greg said at the time, “people would tell me, ‘He plays like he’s hungry. He plays like he’s poor.’”