Indiana Basketball: Recruiting class 2020 break down: Anthony Leal

In a new series, we give you an in-depth breakdown of every member of Indiana basketball incoming recruiting class. Up next, Anthony Leal.

Anthony Leal practically bleeds cream and crimson. Leal was born and raised in Bloomington, where he grew up with a basketball in his hands and from a young age was attending IU games at Assembly Hall. He always had a passion for the game and his talent was apparent from a young age.

Leal often discusses how when he went to games as a kid, he always admired his now fellow Bloomington South High School alum, Jordan Hulls. Today, Hulls and Leal keep in touch regularly and Leal often refers to Hulls as someone he looks up to.

Bloomington South alumni actually have a tremendous history at Indiana. It started with the former NBA player Jared Jeffries and it has continued on with Hulls. Leal hopes to be the next name on that list.

Leal is a tremendous basketball player. At Bloomington South High School, he scored a school-record 1,620 points. During his high school career, Leal racked up scholarship offers from Maryland, Stanford, Iowa, and more before deciding on a final two of Stanford and Indiana.

Leal’s first three years in high school were great but he had an incredible senior season as he and the Panthers went 26-0. Leal was undeniably the star of a team that was a mainstay in ESPN’s high school top 25.

On the season, Leal led the team in points (18.2), rebounds (4) to go along with 2.8 assists and 2.2 steals per game. Bloomington South had their eyes set on the state title going into March but unfortunately, Leal’s senior year was cut short due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Following the end of the season, Leal was awarded the prestigious Indiana Mr. Basketball award and became the third straight winner to attend Indiana following Romeo Langford and Trayce Jackson-Davis. He was also on his conference’s first team and was named MVP.