Why Greg Anthony says his son Cole could ‘absolutely’ return to UNC next season
It’s been a trying year for North Carolina and its star freshman guard Cole Anthony.
Since he returned Feb. 1 from a partially torn meniscus, an injury that kept him out of 11 games over two months, UNC has lost five straight games. Anthony is averaging 19.3 points, 6.4 rebounds and four turnovers. He is shooting 35 percent from the floor.
The Tar Heels at 10-15 might not make the NCAA tournament or NIT — unless they win the ACC tournament.
“I’ve never had a season like this of basketball,” Anthony said Saturday.
But Greg Anthony, Cole’s father, thinks it was the right decision for Cole to go to UNC and to then return from his injury.
“We don’t focus on what all the other people say we should do,” the former NBA player told the N&O Saturday night after UNC’s 64-62 loss to Virginia. “He’s here to get better as a basketball player and to learn and to be a freshman in college, and to enjoy the experience. The good and the bad. The ups and the downs.”
There certainly have been many ups and downs. Before Anthony’s injury, which occurred over time, UNC was 6-3, and had a signature win against then-No. 11 Oregon. The Tar Heels have since taken a nose dive.
Should Cole Anthony have returned to UNC?
When Anthony first had surgery on his knee in December, many thought he should sit out the rest of the season and prepare for the upcoming NBA draft. The Tar Heels were 4-7 without him and already on their way to missing the NCAA tournament. But Anthony was adamant about returning to the team when he was cleared.
He said he didn’t like the way he left and wanted to help his teammates turn around their season.
But that hasn’t yet happened. UNC is 0-5 this month. In that time, the Tar Heels have lost three games on game-winning shots or game-winning free throws.
As recently as Saturday, the Tar Heels had a one-point lead over Virginia with 10 seconds left, when the Cavaliers pushed the ball up the floor and found Tomas Woldetensae, who hit a clutch 3-pointer with 0.8 seconds left.
“Obviously, not the season we would have liked,” Greg Anthony said. “But it’s a great group of guys, incredible university, tremendous family. And I’ve said this to other people. As difficult as this year has been and as at times frustrating, because of the losses, and the way we lost some games, if we had to go through this experience, we wouldn’t want to go through it anywhere else other than being here.
“For us, this is a chapter in his life in his journey and it’s about him growing and learning and that’s what’s most important.”
Considered a potential top-five draft pick early in the season — especially after his 34-point performance against Notre Dame in the season-opener — Cole Anthony had slid in some 2020 NBA mock drafts. According to NBAdraft.net, he is projected to go No. 9 overall.
When asked if Cole Anthony could possibly return to UNC for another year, Greg Anthony emphatically said, “absolutely.”
“There’s been no decision as to what’s going to happen,” Greg Anthony said. “That’s never been an approach for us. I know it’s not for him. His job is to get better and to grow. He’s still a kid. He’s trying to learn and figure out how to become a man. How to become a better teammate, better person.
“All those things that as parents we push for our kids to learn, that’s what his process is.”
This story was originally published February 16, 2020 at 2:19 PM with the headline "Why Greg Anthony says his son Cole could ‘absolutely’ return to UNC next season."
