Anthony Leal (born May 12, 2001) is an American

college basketball In United States colleges, top-tier basketball is governed by collegiate athletic bodies including National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), the United States Collegiate Athleti ...

player for the

Indiana Hoosiers The Indiana Hoosiers are the intercollegiate sports teams and players of Indiana University Bloomington, named after the colloquial term for people from the state of Indiana. The Hoosiers participate in Division I of the National Collegiate Ath ...

of the

Big Ten Conference The Big Ten Conference (stylized B1G, formerly the Western Conference and the Big Nine Conference) is the oldest Division I collegiate athletic conference in the United States. Founded as the Intercollegiate Conference of Faculty Representati ...

. He previously played for Bloomington South and was ranked as the third best player in the state of Indiana for the class of 2020.

High school career

Leal attended

Bloomington High School South Bloomington High School South (simply referred to as BHSS or South) is a public high school in Bloomington, Indiana, United States. It is part of the Monroe County Community School Corporation. Athletics The Panthers compete in the Conference ...

, where he finished his senior season averaging 18.5 points and as the all-time leading scorer in the school's history. He helped the Panthers to an undefeated regular season and a No. 1 ranking in the state of Indiana. His team was poised to make a run as the favorite for the state title in Class 4A; however, due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identi ...

, the postseason tournament was canceled. Despite not winning the state championship, Leal still captured the honor of 2020 Indiana Mr. Basketball. During the off-seasons, Leal played in the AAU circuit on team Indiana Elite. There he was able to build a relationship with future IU teammates, Trey Galloway and Khristian Lander.

Recruiting

Leal was recruited in high school by numerous schools, including scholarship offers from in-state schools

Indiana Indiana () is a U.S. state in the Midwestern United States. It is the 38th-largest by area and the 17th-most populous of the 50 States. Its capital and largest city is Indianapolis. Indiana was admitted to the United States as the 19th s ...

, Butler, and out-of-state,

Big Ten The Big Ten Conference (stylized B1G, formerly the Western Conference and the Big Nine Conference) is the oldest Division I collegiate athletic conference in the United States. Founded as the Intercollegiate Conference of Faculty Representati ...

schools

Iowa Iowa () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States, bordered by the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west. It is bordered by six states: Wisconsin to the northeast, Illinois to th ...

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It shares borders with Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware and the Atlantic Ocean to ...

, and Northwestern alongside Stanford. Leal announced a top two of Indiana and Stanford on July 25, 2019. On August 9, 2019, Leal announced his commitment to Indiana.

College career

In his first year with the Hoosiers, the 2020–21 season, Leal took a minor role in Indiana's rotation. With stand-outs Al Durham Jr. and Armaan Franklin ahead of him in the rotation, Leal played 15 or more minutes in just six games. Over 20 games, he shot just 30 percent from distance on 30 attempts. But Leal also showed his long-term potential. In a double-overtime loss at Wisconsin in January, Leal scored nine points and helped push the game to double overtime. Leal also scored six points, with four rebounds and three steals in 15 minutes in a 67-65 upset win over Iowa in February. In his second year with the Hoosiers, the 2021–22 season, Leal stated, "I want everybody to know that I'm here for the school and for the program and for this jersey. No matter who the coaches are or who my teammates are, I'm here and I'm here to win. That's the ultimate goal." He saw about the same number of minutes as he did his first season. In games against Nebraska, Wisconsin, Merrimack, Notre Dame, and Northern Kentucky, Leal logged 15.2 minutes per game, but he took only 10 shots over those five games, making three of his attempts. Despite declining playing time that year, Leal tweeted after the season ended, "Look up, not out. Beyond blessed that God allows me to wear INDIANA across my chest. Back to work for next season."

Career statistics

College

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2020–21 The dash is a punctuation mark consisting of a long horizontal line. It is similar in appearance to the hyphen but is longer and sometimes higher from the baseline. The most common versions are the endash , generally longer than the hyphen b ...

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, 20 , , 0 , , 11.6 , , .313 , , .300 , , .600 , , 1.4 , , 1.0 , , .5 , , .1 , , 1.6 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2021–22 , style="text-align:left;",

, 17 , , 2 , , 10.2 , , .407 , , .318 , , .667 , , 0.9 , , 1.1 , , .4 , , .1 , , 1.9 , - , style="text-align:left;", Career , style="text-align:left;", , 37 , , 2 , , 10.9 , , .356 , , .308 , , .636 , , 1.2 , , 1.0 , , .4 , , .1 , , 1.8

Personal life

Leal is the son of Martin and Sherry Leal, both of whom work for the IU Foundation. Leal also has an older sister, Lauren, who plays basketball for

DePauw University DePauw University is a private liberal arts university in Greencastle, Indiana. It has an enrollment of 1,972 students. The school has a Methodist heritage and was originally known as Indiana Asbury University. DePauw is a member of both the ...

. With IU such a dominant force in his upbringing, that played a major factor in his decision to be the next Hoosier player from Bloomington. Leal said Jordan Hulls was the player he looked up to most as a young teen going to games at Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall, stating, "Those teams were really special to watch, and it was awesome to see how they brought Hoosier Nation together. I hope that, hopefully, the team I’m on at IU can do the same." The two natives now share a bond, where Hulls is now serving as a mentor to Leal. Leal states that Hulls has offered advice, including how to deal with the pressures of being a hometown star going to IU.

References

External links

Indiana Hoosiers bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Leal, Anthony Living people American men's basketball players Basketball players from Indiana Indiana Hoosiers men's basketball players Shooting guards Sportspeople from Bloomington, Indiana 2001 births