Prospect Spotlight: Anthony Carpenter (2019)
The Mid-Atlantic Select Grassroots program has plenty of talent from their 13U-17U teams. Their 16U team features an array of players who continue to develop their games in order to prepare for the college level. One of those players is point guard Anthony Carpenter.
The 5’10” point guard serves as the floor general for Gerstell Academy in the MIAA B Conference during the winter. The Falcons had a young group this past season consisting of a number of freshman and sophomores. They finished with a 14-14 overall record. Carpenter has started every since he stepped foot on campus, but this past season he was much more aggressive in making his presence felt by displaying his ability to score.
Any freshman that comes in and starts for the varsity team has a ton of adjustments to get used to whether it be the pace of the game, picking and choosing his spots to be aggressive, or understand defensive rotations. For Carpenter, he was able to allow the few upperclassmen that were on the team at the time to take control while he slowly got comfortable as the year went on. Once his sophomore season came around, and with a young team at hand, Carpenter was determined to fill a bigger role for the Falcons.
Carpenter averaged 10 points, five assists, and four rebounds during his sophomore campaign.
“My best feature is my three-point shot and mid-range ability,” Carpenter told PrepHoops. “I’m working on my finishing around the basket, but my jumpshot is the strongest part of my game. I’d also say my basketball IQ. I’m a team player who makes players around me better. I’m a student of the game and plan on working extremely hard on my ball handling and one-on-one moves for next season.”
Playing point guard demands a constant defensive presence. Carpenter is working on his lateral movement to improve on his on-ball defense so that he can add pressure to his match up throughout the game.
He has garnered some interest from a few colleges in Texas, but holds no current offers. Carpenter is open to any situation, but is looking forward to hearing from the local schools around Maryland. Being able to play college basketball and having his parents being able to attend games is important to him.
Carpenter currently holds a 3.3 cumulative GPA.
In terms of who Carpenter spends most of his time watching film on, Kobe Bryant comes to mind first. “Just the way he played,” Carpenter said. “He played aggressive and hard all of the time and has a similar skill set to Michael Jordan. I also watch a lot of Isaiah Thomas. I can relate to him because he’s a shorter guard and the way he gets off shots, his pace, his stop-and-go, and the way he uses his body against bigs is impressive.”