Aggie men nab national championship player Marco Anthony

Photo via Twitter (@MarcoJAnthony)

It’s rare to see championship experience on a Utah State roster in just about any sport, let alone a major one like men’s basketball. But that’s just what Craig Smith and the Aggies just got with University of Virginia transfer Marco Anthony, who entered the transfer portal late in April and just today verbally committed to Utah State.

Welcome to the FAMILY @MarcoJAnthony!#AggiesAllTheWay pic.twitter.com/zo3v3z7r9Y

— USU Men's Hoops (@USUBasketball) June 14, 2019

To be fair, Anthony isn’t exactly bursting with championship experience. Though he was on the roster for Virginia’s 2019 title run, he only appeared in 22 games all year and played for just one minute in the NCAA Tournament — the Cavaliers’ 71-56 win over 16-seed Gardner-Webb.

Anthony is a former three-star recruit out of San Antonio. He was a three-year starter for Holmes High School and averaged 25.5 points, 10.2 rebounds and 3.7 assists per game his senior season. In that same season, Anthony shot 49.6 percent from the field overall, 28.6 percent on 3-pointers and 78.6 percent on free throws.

At Virginia, Anthony appeared in 35 games across his freshman and sophomore seasons, totaling 222 minutes (6.3 per appearance), 52 points, 20 assists and 25 rebounds. Shooting wise, he made 18-of-55 of his shots overall with the Cavaliers (32.7 percent), 7-of-20 (35.0) from deep and 9-of-15 (60.0) at the charity stripe.

Anthony will take up the final scholarship roster spot for the 2019-20 season, but is ineligible to play this upcoming season due to transfer rules. He will have two years of eligibility remaining starting in 2020-21.

The addition of a player with Anthony’s potential shows the long-term thinking of Craig Smith in regards to recruiting at Utah State. In an interview with The Utah Statesman, Smith said he did not plan on using his final scholarship roster just because he had it, but would rather bring in a player who he felt could “impact our program.” Since saying that in late May, Smith has brought in JC transfer Carson Bischoff and now Anthony.