Cole Anthony's Return to the Court for UNC Is in Sight
In mid-December, when North Carolina point guard Cole Anthony underwent arthroscopic surgery to repair a partially torn meniscus in his right knee, speculation ran rampant that he would end up sitting out the entire season.
After all, Anthony is a projected lottery pick in June’s NBA draft; conventional wisdom says to play it safe and think about the big picture.
But, according to Anthony’s father, Greg, a former NBA player and current basketball analyst with Turner Sports, conventional wisdom doesn’t apply to players with Cole’s competitive mental wiring.
“Cole is just different,” Greg said. “That would never be an option for him. He wants to help his brothers; it’s killed him not being able to get out there and play with them.”
As Cole’s former coach with the PSA Cardinals (N.Y.) Terrance “Munch” Williams put it, “If Cole was physically able to play, he would.”
“Cole is a warrior,” Williams said. “You couldn’t talk him out of playing, it wouldn’t work. He wants to go to war with his brothers and fulfill what he signed up for.”
That time will be coming “pretty soon,” according to Greg.
“We’re hoping for the first week of February,” Greg said. “People are gonna speculate and we can’t control that, but he’s absolutely gonna come back.”
On Monday night after UNC's win over NC State, Cole spoke to the media for the first time since his surgery and expressed his desire to get back on the court.
“I’m like ‘yo, I’m all in,’” Anthony said. “I want to play with these guys, again. I don’t like how I left the court with these dudes. I feel like I could give them a lot more than I did.”
Nell Redmond-USA TODAY Sports
To say that Cole’s return is vital to North Carolina’s success for the rest of the season would be putting it mildly.
Cole was averaging 19.1 points, 6.3 rebounds and 3.6 assists a game before the injury.
The Tar Heels are sitting at 10-10 overall and 3-6 in the ACC with 11 games to go, including meetings with Florida State, Syracuse, Louisville, Virginia and two with Duke.
North Carolina is 3-7 in Anthony’s absence and 6-3 when he’s on the court. Before recent wins over Miami and the Wolfpack, they had lost five straight games to drop below .500 in January for the first time in 18 years.
The Tar Heels will host Boston College on Saturday.
As of Friday, shooting was the extent of Cole’s practice routine, North Carolina coach Roy Williams told reporters during a press conference.
Still, Greg said Cole is “definitely mobile” and “able to do a lot of things. He’s right where we want him to be.”
Greg said the focus for Cole during his time out has been on “being an awesome teammate” and student of the game.
“That’s been a challenge at times because Cole is a special type of competitor, but he’s bought in,” Greg said. “It’s a good life lesson, and how you handle things like this is every bit as important as how well you can play. This is important in his development as a man. That’s been our family’s message to him.”
As for long-term effects, Greg said Cole’s testing and treatment “has been thorough so there’s no concern there at all.”
Greg called speculation about Cole shutting it down for the year “crazy.”
“People forget that he’s just a freshman in college who’s only played nine games in college,” Greg said. “From our vantage point there’s a lot more to be learned and gained on the court. The fact that we can see the light at the end of the tunnel is exciting. Our hope is that our team can rally. We’re starting to play better; we’re making progress and there’s a lot of basketball left to be played.”
