Indiana's top 2020 prospect and Bloomington native Anthony Leal signed with Indiana on Wednesday, making him the first hometown signing since Jordan Hulls, who also attended Bloomington High School South, in 2009.
Anthony Leal became the first Bloomington native since Jordan Hulls to sign with Indiana on Wednesday afternoon – the first in-town signing in 11 years.
Indiana head coach Archie Miller has recruited the state well, adding seven players, including Romeo Langford, Trayce Jackson-Davis, Rob Phinisee, Armaan Franklin and others. He’s now added the two most recent top in-state players with Leal’s signing.
Like Hulls, Leal brings excitement around his scoring capabilities – 19.9 points per game and 35.3-percent three-point shooting as a junior at Bloomington South – mixed with a little bit of Archie Miller’s zest for positionless play.
What set Leal apart from Hulls, though, is that when Hulls received his Indiana offer, he committed immediately. While whittling his choices down to Indiana and Stanford, Leal waited before making what he coined the “official” decision when he verbally committed.
“I knew that my immediate impulse would be to commit right away,” Leal said after the signing. “But the way I’ve been raised is to take my time and let things pan out how they will. I wanted to take my time and make sure I made the best choice for me and my future. I’m glad it ended up being at home.”
While Leal was signing with the Hoosiers at Bloomington High School South, his friend and eventual teammate Trey Galloway was also signing with Indiana out of Culver Academies. The duo played together for several years in the AAU circuit for the Indiana Elite and committed just a few weeks apart – Galloway on July 26, Leal on Aug. 9..
The two guards will add to a growing backcourt that already features junior Al Durham, sophomore Rob Phinisee and freshman Armaan Franklin. Leal and Galloway will add two top-150 options to the roster.
“Any time it’s allowed and meets all the guidelines, I’ll definitely be over there playing with the guys and just getting accustomed,” Leal said about Indiana.
Leal’s already taken on a new diet and vitamin regimen that he will eventually use during his time at Indiana, and he said he has been to Indiana practices, taking notes of play-calls and then applying those notes to games when he’s able to attend – just so he isn’t behind when he arrives on campus. While playing out his final season at Bloomington South, where he helped lead his team to a Class 4A semi-state appearance last year, the No. 1 player in the state said he will be in the gym, adding weight to his body and getting himself in position to contribute immediately.
He thinks of himself as a positionless player, someone who, at 6-foot-5, can space the floor and defend at several positions on the court. Archie Miller believes he can too, he said.
“He needs me more than he wants me,” Leal said about what Miller has told him. “Just as a guy that can shoot, score and space the floor, defend and put some pride back into the jersey. That stuff meant a lot to me.”
Being close to home also meant a lot to him, he said.
He spent a lot of time with family, discussing his options, and his family gave him space to make his own decision, his parents – Martin and Sherry – said.
“People joke because I didn’t have a problem going to Stanford to see him play,” Martin said. “I just get to see a lot more now. I get to go home to my bed, go to Nick’s to have some dinner before or after the game.”
Martin pointed to the days when he, Anthony and the family would go to Indiana basketball games when the Leals were younger – some of the big games they saw, some of the big shots. He said Anthony grew up "in the shadow” of Indiana basketball, where it meant more to the community than most other places, which he believes also played a role in Leal's commitment.
That sentiment was felt when the Leal family was left “in awe” on a visit to Indiana in April and Anthony received an offer to play for his hometown school.
While making it clear that it’s the dream of any Bloomington child or high school basketball player to play for Indiana, Martin said he and the family left Anthony to make his own decision when he thought the time was right, and any decision his son made would have been supported wholly.
And once Anthony made that decision, it was final.
“For me, it was official when I verbally committed, but now that it’s actually official, I‘m really excited and just kind of excited to get the rest of the guys signed and hopefully make something special happen in our next four years,” Leal said.
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