Virginia Recruit Marco Anthony’s Versatility On Display His Senior Season

Much basketball is still left to be played in the 2016/2017 season, but Holmes (San Antonio, TX) senior Marco Anthony is showing he is an improved player from one year ago.

The University of Virginia-bound wing enjoyed a productive junior season, averaging 20 points and over seven rebounds per game while leading Holmes to a 20-12 record. Anthony followed up with an impressive offseason, turning in top AAU performances on the Nike EYBL circuit and the Texas-based Great American Shootout.

Aside from a slow start in terms of 3-point shooting percentage, Anthony has pretty much improved across the board for the 11-5 Huskies. His points per game average this season is 22.8 according to MaxPreps, up 2.8 from last year. The 6’6″, 220-pound senior is crashing the boards, pulling down an average of 11.8 rebounds — up from a 7.4 per game average last season –- and has amassed at least 11 double-double performances. Additionally, Anthony is finding open teammates, dishing out 5.2 assists per contest as a senior compared to the 2.9 assists per game he averaged as a junior. He has a triple-double to his credit this year, totaling 17 points, 17 rebounds, and 10 assists in a November win.

(Note: MaxPreps is missing stats from four of Holmes’ 16 games, so all of the stats in this article are based on 12 games.)

Anthony primarily served as Holmes’ point guard last year. This season, though, he is seeing more action off the ball. In a slightly different role, Anthony is demonstrating more composure.

“I’m not forcing shots like I did last year and it’s been paying off,” Anthony noted.

From an offensive standpoint, the future Cavalier is averaging more points per game so far this season despite making only 34% of his 3-point field goal attempts (10-of-29). His overall field goal percentage, however, has improved from 49% to 53%. Just 18% of Anthony’s field goal attempts have come from beyond the arc. Forty percent of his field goal attempts last season were 3-pointers.

Anthony is getting to the free throw line with much more regularity this season. After making 137-of-171 free throw attempts (80%) last year, he has 121 attempts (in 12 games) from the charity stripe his senior year, making 94 (78%). Anthony sank 17-of-18 free throws in a 76-70 win over MacArthur in late November.