Cole Anthony arrived at North Carolina with significant fanfare as one of the top recruits in the country. The son of former NBA player Greg Anthony is expected to be one of the top prospects for the 2020 NBA Draft, and began his one season of college ball with quite the bang.
Anthony exploded onto the scene with a 34-point outing against Notre Dame in UNC’s opener, and has averaged 19.1 points per game through his first nine games. Unfortunately, his recent surgery to repair a partially torn meniscus will keep him out of action until well into January, which is especially concerning for a Tar Heels team that has sputtered to a 6-4 start, including most recently a loss to Wofford without their freshman star.
The team announced Anthony had arthroscopic surgery to repair the meniscus in his right knee on Monday, and would miss 4-6 weeks as he rehabs.
“Obviously not having a player of Cole’s caliber will be a tremendous challenge to our young team, but we have to play,” says UNC head coach Roy Williams. “No one player is going to replace the production Cole Anthony gives us, so it’s up to everyone who puts on a North Carolina jersey to raise his game and help our team play better.”
Anthony is just the latest top draft prospect to see their season get interrupted. LaMelo Ball will miss a month of action in Australia with a foot injury, while Memphis center James Wiseman is in the midst of serving a suspension for receiving improper benefits. The main concern for Anthony, of course, is getting healthy. His abilities as a scorer and ball-handler are well established and while missing a month-plus of opportunity to further develop and put out quality tape is unfortunate, he has a bright future in the league and the most important thing is that he takes the necessary time to get fully healthy.
