Cole Anthony Scouting Report

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Cole Anthony
Photo Credit: Tim Lang

School: North Carolina

Year: Freshman

Height/Weight: 6’3, 190 lbs.

 

Strengths:

Cole Anthony is a gifted athlete, scorer, and playmaker. There’s so much to love about his game and he hasn’t even come close to the player that he can become.

Anthony has an elite touch from the field. He is great at recognizing the right angle to attack the basket to be able to get a good floater off.

The touch off of the glass is something that continues to stand out for Cole Anthony. He’ll often attack right and can muscle off the defender or pull off a good move to get just the space he needs to get it onto the backboard.

Anthony is a spectacular rebounder for his size. That largely has to do with his elite athleticism and vertical, but it also has to do with his instincts.

The athleticism is absolutely something we have to talk about with Cole Anthony. He clearly has jump out of the gym hops which we saw during the Black Ops Runs over the summer with Chris Brickley. Now, we have been able to see it in live game action at the collegiate level. On both ends of the court, he has showcased NBA level elite athleticism that opens your eyes.

Back to Cole’s offense though. Anthony is an above average shooter. It goes back to his soft touch because often you’ll actually see his shots hit the rim, but still go in. That’s that shooter’s touch right there.

He clearly has NBA range too. Given the fact that he has the ball so often in this North Carolina offense, rarely does he spot up. But, that doesn’t stop him from hitting tough shots down their throat after facing up opposing defenders or after hitting a clean step-back.

Cole plays with a certain degree of confidence that is very appealing at the point guard position. That applies for both sides of the ball. He’ll take on any ball handler defensively as well as attack anyone who is guarding him on offense.

Weaknesses:

While Cole Anthony is a confident player, sometimes that leads to some forced shots. He is an intelligent player, but doesn’t seem to utilize his teammates as much as he should. In all fairness, North Carolina’s roster isn’t nearly as talented this year as it has been in year’s passed, but we just have to hope that Cole’s tendency to force the issue given the lack of talent around him doesn’t carry over with him to the NBA.

In high school and at the McDonald’s All American Games, we saw Cole using his left hand, but even then he was just much more comfortable attacking right. When he does attack left, he’ll usually then default to going to his step-back off of that hand (as most right handed basketball players prefer to do). The only concern here is that Cole doesn’t become too predictable of a hooper. He’s so skilled and talented, but every one needs to continue to expand their bag once they make it to the pros. Cole Anthony is no exception.

Lastly, his passing is something we should talk about. He won’t average many assists per game in his one (most likely) college season. The team around him just isn’t that talented as mentioned and he is by far the best scorer and initiator on the team. We’ve seen Cole make some good reads on offense and some direct passes, but to what degree of a passer can he become at the next level is the real question. That will just have to be something to monitor as he moves forward in his basketball career.

Future Outlook:

Cole Anthony is one of the players that we can confidently say will be a good pro. He has NBA level athleticism, clear NBA superstar potential, and is just a phenomenal scorer. He’ll have to work out some kinks in his game as he transitions to the next level, but there’s no denying that he is a top prospect in the draft.

Now, for where he will be drafted? Cole Anthony has a very good chance to be the number one overall pick in the 2020 NBA Draft. A few others are in that conversation, but Cole seems to be in the lead.

Other Media:

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