Anthony Leal Joins Trey Galloway in Building the Future of Indiana Basketball
Written By: Ben Malcomson (@iuheartland)
Today was a special day for Bloomington South’s Anthony Leal as he made one of the most important decisions of his young adult life in choosing between in-state program Indiana and Stanford.
When it came down to it, Leal was too intrigued to be a part of the Hoosier program and made that known around 4:30 pm of his intentions to play for IU. Below is some comments from Leal.
Per IndyStar: Committing to Indiana basketball a 'dream come true' for Bloomington product Anthony Leal
“Growing up as a kid, playing for IU was something I could only imagine in my dreams,” Leal said. “Now that I have the opportunity to achieve that dream and hopefully inspire people of all ages, it feels so right to be able to say I am a Hoosier and be a leader in returning Indiana basketball to its reputation of success and pride that I and so many people like me fell in love with in the past.”
"It’s a surreal moment and a really surreal feeling," Leal said of his decision. "It doesn’t feel like something I’m gonna get to be a part of, Hoosier Hsyteria, playing at Assembly Hall, playing against Purdue, hopefully playing for a Big Ten championship and making a run in the NCAA tournament.
It’s literally a dream come true.
You can follow Anthony Leal via Twitter @anthonyl3al. You can also follow him on Instagram at the same screen name.
What This Means to the Program
With this addition of Leal, he joins fellow AAU teammate Trey Galloway to make that two valuable foundation pieces towards the future of the Indiana men’s basketball program. Archie Miller spoke about their inside-out approach from day one. They continue to have overall success recruiting from within. The Keion Brooks decision left a bad taste in some Hoosier fan’s mouths bringing into question whether Archie and company were beginning to lose momentum. The commitments of Galloway and Leal prove otherwise. You are talking about kids they started looking into building relationships with the past couple of years and some change. In my opinion, if they can also land a kid like Matt Cross who is out of state, it not only continues to build that culture, but it also shows we are able to recruit at a strategic level outside of the state even farther away than a guy like Jerome Hunter came from. Should be interesting. Either way, IU fans should celebrate tonight. This is a significant win.
Check out some videos on Leal: