The 2020 NBA Draft has gained North Carolina Tar Heel’s point guard Cole Anthony. He has declared with the intent to stay in the draft process and forgo his final three years of college eligibility. He will be the sixth player to be a “one and done” prospect under Roy Williams at North Carolina. That total has doubled in the past two seasons with the departures of Nassir Little, Coby White, and now Cole Anthony. His draft stock took a hit because of an injury, but Anthony should still be projected as a 2020 NBA Draft lottery selection.
Anthony was likely always going to be a “one and done” prospect for North Carolina. The Tar Heels had a disappointing and injury-plagued season, but Anthony had some obvious bright spots in a down year for Roy Williams. Anthony’s freshman year he averaged 18.5 points, 5.7 rebounds, 4.0 assists, and 1.3 steals per game. He paired those numbers with a field goal percentage of 38 percent and a three-point field goal percentage of 34.8 percent.
Cole Anthony attacks off the catch and converts around traffic at the rim. Impressive bucket pic.twitter.com/Vl9HRzuXaF
— Jackson Frank (@jackfrank_jjf) April 10, 2020
The NBA is largely dominated by point guards that can score. Anthony shows the potential to be one of those guards eventually in the NBA. He was forced to be more of a volume shooter at North Carolina, but the hope is an NBA team can help him be more effective with his jump shot. Anthony is listed at 6’3″ and 190 pounds which makes him a likely NBA point guard. His future role in the NBA will largely depend on where he is drafted. He could be a starter soon or a key reserve for some time.
