Cole Anthony
Cole Hinton Anthony (born May 15, 2000) is an American professional basketball player for the Orlando Magic of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played college basketball for the North Carolina Tar Heels. Listed at and , he plays the point guard position. The son of Greg Anthony, who played 11 seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA), he grew up in Manhattan, New York and attended Archbishop Molloy High School before transferring to Oak Hill Academy for his final year. He was rated a consensus five-star recruit and the best point guard in the 2019 class. As a senior, he earned USA Today All-USA first team honors and was named most valuable player (MVP) of the McDonald's All-American Game, Jordan Brand Classic, and Nike Hoop Summit. In his freshman season at North Carolina, Anthony earned third-team All-ACC accolades despite missing six weeks due to injury. In 2018, Anthony led the United States to a gold medal and was named to the all-tournament team at the FIBA Under-18 Americas Championship in St. Catharines, Ontario. Early life Anthony was born in Portland, Oregon, where his father, Greg Anthony, was playing for the Portland Trail Blazers. His umbilical cord was wrapped around his neck at birth, affecting his heart rate at the time but not leading to further complications. As a toddler, Anthony's family moved to Manhattan, where he grew up in a penthouse. Even though he came from a wealthy family, Anthony's parents insisted on raising him with hard-working values. He later commented, "They don't hand anything to me in life. What they do hand to me is knowledge." Anthony first played baseball, a sport his father initially thought he would pursue, but decided to focus on basketball in fifth grade. In his childhood, he worked with private basketball trainers and played pick-up games at local parks, seeking out older opponents. From a young age, Anthony was coached by Steve Harris, who mentored NBA player Kemba Walker and was a prominent Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) figure in New York. When he was 11 years old, he appeared in Little Ballers, a 2013 Nickelodeon documentary film directed by his mother, Crystal McCrary. The film featured Anthony's New York-based AAU team, New Heights. High school career In his first three years of high school, Anthony played basketball for Archbishop Molloy High School in Briarwood, New York. He was the first freshman to immediately start at point guard for Molloy. Christ the King Regional High School head coach Joe Arbitello called Anthony "the best point guard I've seen since Stephon Marbury at that age." Anthony averaged 16.9 points and 6.7 rebounds per game and garnered All-Catholic High School Athletic Association (CHSAA) Class AA second team recognition. As a sophomore, Anthony led Molloy to the CHSAA Class AA city championship finals, where his team was upset by Cardinal Hayes High School. He recorded a season-high 31 points in a win over Iona Prep in December 2016. Anthony averaged 20.7 points, 7.8 rebounds, and 5.8 assists