UNC Basketball: Cole Anthony Delays NBA Decision

It’s hard to believe that it’s been three weeks since the end of Carolina’s basketball season, as recent world events have made it feel like it’s been a few years. Despite world events, there will be a day, presumably, when this is behind us and they are playing basketball again. Because of that, decisions still have to be made. As we’ve discussed, Roy Williams has already made a few scholarship offers for 2021 and 2022, and in the meantime some decisions need to be made by the current 2020 team.

The most immediate seemingly belongs to Cole Anthony, who was expected to be a one and done player. With Tre Jones announcing he was moving on, eyes turned to Chapel Hill to see if Anthony would do the same. As is the method of the day, he let us all know on Instagram where his mind was:

It’s a good post that highlights what’s important above all else, but you need to hit play in order to get the message about his NBA Decision. First and foremost, Cole is letting us all know there are more important things than whether or not he’s going to choose to get paid for basketball at the moment. As it is, he’s likely surrounded by the worst of COVID-19 considering that he’s back in New York with his family. It’s tough to be in a celebratory mood with all of this going around.

The fact of the matter is that Cole may not be under any real deadline to declare. It’s come out that the NBA will not have its draft until the 2020 season has been either completed, or cancelled outright. As it stands, prospects have at least until April 21 to declare whether or not they are going to come back to school, and as the last three weeks have felt like three years, who knows what the next three weeks will bring. While that date hasn’t been officially moved back, it really just feels like a formality. Even so, that’s still plenty of time for Cole to assess where he stands and whether he wants to go into the NBA next season, and announce in a way he thinks is fitting for the time.

There’s no doubt the Tar Heels would benefit from having Anthony back for another year, the problem of course is that with it being assumed he was headed out after this year, all of Carolina’s open scholarship spots for 2020-21 have been taken. That said, with reports out that Roy has been speaking with some on the transfer market, it could be a hint that Williams is expecting further movement beyond just the possible loss of Anthony.

There are, bigger things for everyone to concern themselves with in the immediate future, and every fan not only wishes Cole and his family the best during this chaotic situation. Hopefully the biggest thing he will have to worry about is what sort of jersey he will be wearing next season.