9/25/2022 basketball Edit

Season Preview: Anthony Leal

Kyler Staley • TheHoosier

Basketball Recruiting Analyst

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The 2022-23 Indiana men's basketball season gets started in just a few short months which is a perfect time to start looking ahead and breaking down each scholarship player of the roster and previewing what to expect out of them this upcoming year.

Today, we take a look at sophomore guard Anthony Leal with a recap of last season, preview of this upcoming season, plus some notable quotes.

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Other Season Previews: Xavier Johnson, Race Thompson, Miller Kopp, Trayce Jackson-Davis, Trey Galloway, Jordan Geronimo

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Last Season Review

The Bloomington South HS product completed his second season with Hoosiers last year having made 17 in-game appearances averaging only 1.9 points per game off the bench. He did however have a 40.7% field goal percentage (10-of-32) including shooting 31.8% from three (7-of-22).

Although Leal's appearances in games where often times sporadic, he was able to be a part of the starting lineup on two separate occasions due to player suspensions, once at home versus Northern Kentucky and on the road versus Northwestern. Leal's high IQ, underrated play-making ability, and outside shooting often times showed flashes of what kind of player he could be.

It is no secret, Leal was placed near the bottom of Indiana's rotation for the majority of the season and even with his playing time limited, he still was a great teammate that brought the energy on the bench with a positive attitude. However, Leal stayed ready when his number was called.

2022-23 Season Preview

Although many projected that Leal would be an important rotation player by his third season at Indiana, unfortunately with the way things stand now, it looks as though he will have a similar role as last year. With the likes of Jalen Hood-Schifino, Tamar Bates, Trey Galloway, and others going to take up the majority of minuets at the wing/guard spot certainly, Leal may find it hard to crack the rotation consistently once again.

With that said however, Leal is a player that works extremely hard and has put in a ton of work since he became a Hoosier. While it may not be this year, with his IQ, Leal could become one of Indiana's best passers along with three point shooters by his fourth season. Leal was an excellent shooter in high school, which is one of the reasons he was named Indiana Mr. Basketball 2020, so it is a little surprising that his college career three-point shooting average is just 30.8%.

Right now, it is all about taking advantage of the opportunities that Leal gets this season and continuing to improve his game. Continuing to be ready when his name is called, being a consistent defender, improving his overall outside shooting percentage, and being an overall great teammate is going to help Leal's case for more minuets in Indiana's rotation.

Notable Quotes

"I think deserves to play a little now, too. He hasn't played much. At least he gives you toughness and he can make shots," Woodson said of Leal last season in one of his rare in-game appearances. "He's been very competitive in practice."

“You see Anthony every day in practice; he goes 125% every single day,'' Thompson said previously.

“I just try and stay consistent and keep doing my job everyday and that is just playing as hard as I can and make winning plays," said Leal previously. "So I think just focusing on that and just focus on everyday being the best version of myself that I can be. I feel like eventually all the work is going to pay off.”