Cole Anthony finished high school as the No. 1-rated player in the Chosen 25 and an ALL-USA First Team selection.
The North Carolina signee shows no signs of contentment.
Ballislife posted a recent video of Anthony working out with NBA player Carmelo Anthony, who is a current free agent (and of no relation to Cole). The twitter account said it got the video from Chris Brickley, a trainer for many of the NBA’s top stars who was dubbed by Undefeated as the league’s “most sought-after ‘influencer.'”
As dominant as Anthony was at Oak Hill Academy (Mouth of Wilson, Virginia) last year, the video quickly showed the difference between an 18-year-old right out of high school and a longtime NBA veteran who has been a star in the league for the better part of his 16 seasons.
Carmelo Anthony vs Cole Anthony!
Via @Cbrickley603
📸 harrington1313/IG pic.twitter.com/aC7SdYZjEu— Ballislife.com (@Ballislife) June 27, 2019
One of the first clips in the video shows the 6-foot-3 Cole attempting to spin around Carmelo toward the baseline for a shot, but the 6-foot-8 Carmelo stuck with him and blocked the fadeaway.
Immediately after, Carmelo pulled up and drained a shot over Cole.
Carmelo also shows Cole the physicality of the NBA. A shove around the 0:45 mark pushed Cole out of position, and Carmelo had a wide-open step-back look.
But Cole managed to hold his own, including hitting some difficult shots (see 0:40, 3:00 in particular).
And all this is just highlight footage, so it doesn’t necessarily tell the true story:
After Cole was named to the ALL-USA Third Team as a junior, he averaged a triple-double as a senior and was named MVP of the McDonald’s All American Game, Nike Hoop Summit and Jordan Brand Classic.
Now, after growing up as the son of former NBA player Greg Anthony, he’s learning from one of the great offensive threats of all time about basketball at higher levels.
North Carolina could have a dominant force on its hands next season.
