11/18/2020 basketball Edit

2020-21 Player Preview: Anthony Leal

Alec Lasley • TheHoosier

Senior Writer

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Indiana has been extremely successful with landing the state's Mr. Basketball and in 2020 it was no different after landing Bloomington South guard Anthony Leal.

The 6-foot-5 guard was always destined to be a Hoosier and is something he dreamt about since he was a kid. Even though it will be a bit different this season without fans expected to be in attendance, he will be sporting the candy stripes nonetheless.

"Yeah it has been kind of surreal now with the jersey on. I'm super excited and can't wait," Leal said on IU's media day. "Dream come true."

"(Anthony) has a great motor, awesome worker, fantastic student,” Archie Miller said. “He’s a competitor."

TheHoosier.com continues its 2020-21 player previews with freshman guard Anthony Leal.

Anthony Leal is the newest Bloomington native to wear the Candy Stripes (IU Athletics)

High School Career

Leal left a lasting impact on the Bloomington South basketball program. Not only did he lead them to a 26-0 record as a senior, he also became South's all-time leading scorer (1,617). As a senior he averaged 18.2 points and 4.3 rebounds per game.

What made it more of an incredible season was when he was named Indiana's Mr. Basketball. This was the third year in a row where Indiana had received a commitment from the state's Mr. Basketball.

“I was just really grateful and it didn’t hit me until it was made public," Leal told TheHoosier.com after winning the Mr. Basketball honor. "It became real and how much love everyone showed me was so special," Leal added. "It gives me another goal to shoot for as Romeo [Langford] and Trayce [Jackson-Davis] have had great success so far.”

Playing alongside current IU freshmen Trey Galloway and Khristian Lander, Leal averaged 12.2 points, 3.1 rebounds and 2.9 assists per game for Indiana Elite during his last AAU season.

Of what Indiana is getting in Leal, former Rivals' National Analyst Corey Evans previously told TheHoosier.com,

"Simply a rock-solid one (player). Anthony Leal is a tough-nosed guard-wing that can play a variety of positions in the backcourt. He is someone that can make shots, distribute within the half-court, defend, and finish through contact. He gets to the foul line in heavy amounts due to his blue-collared approach but is also more than willing to do some of the smaller things in order for his team to succeed. In all, he is a program building sort of commitment that should help Archie Miller win a lot of games in Bloomington."

2020-21 Season Expectations:

There was one thing Indiana lacked over the course of the past few years; shooting.

In high school and AAU, Leal shot 37 percent from three (HS) for his career and 38 percent during his last summer for Indiana Elite. Those numbers would have ranked tied for first on IU's roster last season.

“Anthony is a great shooter. He’s a great defender, really smart, he listens and plays really hard,” Rob Phinisee said at IU media day.

“Anthony is a knockdown shooter, big-body guard and can create when he needs to,” Armaan Franklin added.

Because of Indiana's depth in the backcourt, each player will have to specialize in something in order to see significant minutes and shooting is Leal's main attribute. While he is a very solid all-around player, that skillset is what IU is looking for and a way for the freshman guard to get on the floor, and stay there.

Because of Archie Miller looking to go with three guards more often on the floor together, Leal will be able to showcase his skills early and often before a true rotation is set.

While I fully expect Leal to have a terrific career for Indiana and be an All-Big Ten player as an upperclassman, I don't expect him to have significant numbers this season. Something to expect would be numbers like seven or eight minutes and two or thee points per game.