Cole Anthony Commits To UNC

Cole Anthony Commits To UNC

After Duke landed two top-30 recruits on Friday and Monday, North Carolina made a statement of its own on Tuesday.

Apr 23, 2019 by Adam Zagoria
Cole Anthony Commits To UNC

After Duke landed two top-30 recruits on Friday and Monday, North Carolina made a statement of its own on Tuesday. Cole Anthony, the 6-foot-3 point guard from Oak Hill Academy (VA) and the No. 2-ranked prospect in the Class of 2019, committed to the Tar Heels on ESPN's "The Jump."

Anthony, the son of former NBA point guard Greg Anthony, chose North Carolina over Oregon, Georgetown and Notre Dame. With Coby White declaring for the NBA Draft, Anthony will slide into his spot at UNC. 

"At the end of the day, we ended up going with North Carolina," Anthony said on ESPN. "We kept looking at all the schools and I just always ended up going back to Carolina. It's like a family to me. I love Coach [Roy] Williams, coach [Hubert] Davis and if it was up to me, I'd be on campus tomorrow."

Anthony averaged a triple-double this past season at Oak Hill with 18.5 points, 10.2 assists and 10.1 rebounds 

"Cole is the consummate point guard for today's game," legendary Oak Hill coach Steve Smith said. "He is a scoring point guard. He thrives in transition with tremendous court vision and awareness. He can play equally as well in the half court. He defends his position and I have never coached a point guard that rebounds the ball the way he does. How many point guards average as many rebounds as they do assists? Cole does!"

Anthony, a New York City native, doesn't figure to be at North Carolina for long. He's the projected No. 3 pick in the 2020 NBA Draft, according to ESPN.com.

Anthony is coming off winning co-MVP honors at the Jordan Brand Classic on Saturday night in Las Vegas. He also had an impressive performance at the Nike Hoop Summit and won MVP honors at the McDonald’s All-American Game.

After landing Matthew Hurt on Friday and Cassius Stanley on Monday, Duke solidifed the No. 1 recruiting class in the nation, according to 247Sports.com.

North Carolina's class is now ranked No. 14 by 247Sports.com with Anthony, big man Armando Bacot and point guard Jeremiah Francis.

North Carolina still remains in the mix for 2019 forward Precious Achiuwa, who is also considering Memphis and Kansas, among others, and 2019 combo guard Anthony Harris, who is coming off ACL surgery and visited the campus Monday-Tuesday. They are also recruiting grad transfers Christian Keeling, a shooting guard from Charleston Southern, and Justin Pierce, a forward from William & Mary.

As for Anthony, he departed New York powerhouse Archbishop Molloy to spend his senior year at Oak Hill, alongside fellow New York native Kofi Cockburn (Illinois).

He played for the New York powerhouse PSA Cardinals AAU team on the Nike EYBL circuit, and will now bring his talents to Chapel Hill.

"He will bring leadership from Day 1," PSA Cardinals coach Isaac Green said. "He will hold his teammates accountable and make certain they are doing the right thing on and off the court at all times.

"He's an instant matchup nightmare. He gets to his spots and is a true three-level scorer. He will embrace defending the best guard on the other team and takes pride in rebounding the basketball. Most importantly, he will sacrifice for winning. He truly loves to win."

Adam Zagoria is a Basketball Insider who runs ZAGSBLOG.com and contributes to The New York Times. Follow Adam on Twitter.


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