Takeaways from UNC’s media day on Cole Anthony, Christian Keeling, Sterling Manley

Cole Anthony plans to do whatever he can to help the North Carolina basketball team win a national title.

Even if that means sitting on the bench, he said Wednesday.

Anthony likely won’t be on the bench much this year. The freshman point guard is expected to start for the Tar Heels, who lose their top five scorers from the 2018-19 team.

But Anthony said he just wants to win.

When a reporter asked him what his goal was this season, Anthony said: “Forget my individual goals.”

“I’m here to win,” he said. “So that’s my one goal. We’re going to make it to a Final Four, and we’ll see what we can do from there.”

All eyes were on Anthony at UNC’s annual media day on Wednesday. It was the first time the program has made freshmen players available before they’ve played in a game, a policy dating back to when Dean Smith was coach.

Anthony, though, is no ordinary freshman. He was the top-ranked point guard coming out of high school and No. 3 player overall in the country. The 6-3, 185-pound point guard averaged a near triple-double in his final season at Oak Hill Academy. In 26 games, he averaged 18 points per game, 9.8 rebounds, 9.5 assists and 2.3 steals.

“Cole is one of the best players in the country already, and he hasn’t played a game,” UNC junior forward Garrison Brooks said. “That’s a lot to say, but I believe in him. The thing about Cole is, he’s one of the hardest workers I’ve ever seen.”

Anthony will be tasked with replacing the production of point guard Coby White, who averaged 16.1 points per game and 4.1 assists last season, and helped lead the Tar Heels to the NCAA Tournament’s Sweet 16. White was taken No. 7 overall by the Chicago Bulls in the 2019 NBA Draft.

In comparing Anthony to White, UNC coach Roy Williams said Anthony is more of a passing guard than White.

“Cole is more of a quarterback back there, is trying to get other people the ball in that situation,” Williams said. “Cole is good defensively. In high school, I think he was the best defensive rebounding guard I’d ever seen, and we’re going to need him to rebound the defensive boards for us, too.”

Sterling Manley’s injury

The Tar Heels are dealing with a few injuries heading into their first few weeks of practice. Reserve point guard K.J. Smith has a sprained ankle. And freshmen guards Anthony Harris and Jeremiah Francis were both limited in practice Wednesday with injuries they sustained in high school.

But the most notable injury was Sterling Manley, who did not practice at all.

Williams revealed on Wednesday that Manley had offseason surgery on his knee, which kept him out for half the season last year. But Manley continues to have soreness in his knee. A UNC spokesperson said doctors are currently evaluating what caused the soreness to return.

“I don’t know,” Williams said, when asked what was the latest on Manley’s injury. “Sterling is not doing anything. I mean nothing. ... He doesn’t shoot, he doesn’t run, he doesn’t get down in a stance. He’s not playing.

“I do not know when he will play. Period.”

Manley, a 6-11, 240-pound junior forward, missed 18 games in 2019. He averaged 3.5 points per game and 2.9 rebounds.

“He looks really damn good in a suit standing on the side,” Williams said. “But he is not playing.”

Two big men at a time?

Williams likes the idea of playing a two-big man lineup. He now has that capability with Brooks, who played the four in some situations last year, and the addition of 6-10 freshman forward Armando Bacot.

Williams has traditionally utilized two-big men lineups, including with the 2017 national championship team. He likes to work the ball inside first. But in recent years, with an increased focus on the outside shot, Williams’ best lineups have been smaller lineups.

Williams said assistant coach Hubert Davis has been working with Brooks on his faceup jump shot so that he can step out and hit it if needed.

Bacot was a five-star prospect coming out of high school.

“I’d like to play two big guys,” Williams said.

The two grad transfers

Along with UNC’s four-man recruiting class, Williams also grabbed two grad transfers in Christian Keeling from Charleston Southern and Justin Pierce from William & Mary.

When asked why he went the grad transfer route, Williams said because he needed some perimeter players. Keeling and Pierce provide that.

Keeling, a 6-4, 175-pound guard, averaged 18.7 points and 6.9 rebounds per game last season for Charleston Southern. He averaged 2.4 3-pointers made per game and shot 38 percent from 3-point range last year.

“Christian gives you a little bit of scoring,” Williams said. “He’s got a tremendous flair. Very gregarious personality. He’s Theo Pinson Jr. But I think that the job that they did with him at Charleston Southern, he’s been coached very well, he understands how to play.

“He’s never met a shot that he didn’t like so far, but we’ll see how that goes as we go down.”

Pierce, Williams said, will benefit the Tar Heels on the boards. Pierce, a 6-7, 215-pound guard, averaged 14.9 points per game and 8.9 rebounds at William & Mary last season. He was also dealing with a wrist injury he said affected his shot. As a result, his shooting percentages dropped.

But Pierce said last Friday that he’d be better this season.

“You can ask anyone on the team, I can shoot the ball,” Pierce said.

Kendall Marshall’s new role

Former UNC point guard Kendall Marshall has a new role on UNC’s coaching staff. The school announced that Marshall would serve as the team’s director of recruiting.

“What we’re trying to do is get somebody to be aware of social media and things that we can use in recruiting and be aware of putting out more things for prospects,” Williams said.

Marshall played at UNC from 2010 to 2012. He averaged 8.1 points per game and 9.8 assists during his sophomore season at UNC. He earned his degree from UNC last year.

This story was originally published October 2, 2019 at 10:07 PM.