First-year players spoke at UNC's media day, breaking with tradition

"Start of a new tradition."

That's what Cole Anthony had to say about the surprise appearance of North Carolina's first-year basketball players at the team's media day. For decades, the program has had a simple rule when it comes to first-year players talking to media — not until after their first game. 

Why the change in policy? The official answer, from men's basketball SID Steve Kirschner: "Why not?" 

Times are changing, and UNC has two social media stars to show off. Anthony and fellow rookie Armando Bacot have over 581,000 followers on Instagram between them. 

Anthony has already gone viral several times this past summer — sometimes for hyping up college students dunking on a lowered rim, sometimes for his appearance in open practices featuring NBA players.

UNC's highest-rated recruit since Harrison Barnes in 2010, Anthony is no stranger to big expectations. He's the son of retired NBA veteran and current studio analyst Greg Anthony, and the latest in a long line of point guards to come out of New York City. He made it clear, though, that despite the hype, he's only got one goal in mind.

"Forget my individual goals, I'm here to win," Anthony said. "That's my one goal. We want to make it to a Final Four and see what we can do from there." 

As the No. 2 player in his class, according to ESPN, Anthony will step into the role left by Coby White's departure to the NBA. 

"Coby was more of a scoring point guard, which I'm OK with. I like point guards that can do something great, and I thought Coby did that great," head coach Roy Williams said. "Cole can score, but Cole is more of a quarterback back there. He's trying to get people the ball." 

Anthony is a player with a solid frame and an array of dribble moves to get downhill — he won't be able to replicate White's end-to-end speed, but he should pull in defenders like UNC's last point guard. 

"It's so fun playing with him because he draws so much attention," junior guard Andrew Platek said. "That frees up everyone else on the court. I think that's important for me as well as the other shooters on this team. We're gonna get a ton of open shots this year, based on the fact that we have him on the court making decisions." 

Bacot, for his part, had his viral moments over the summer with UNC fans, giving cryptic updates on the team's recruiting through his Twitter account. 

"I did it like once, I can’t remember, I tweeted out something, and I saw how crazy the fans went. So I was like, ‘Alright, I’m going to keep doing this,’" Bacot said. "It was getting a lot of buzz and it was funny, so I was like, ‘I’ll keep doing it.’"

For most of the 21st century, UNC has stayed out of the one-and-done craze. But with recent policy changes, and the incorporation of Anthony, there could be a new era of Tar Heel recruiting on the horizon.

@bg_keyes

@DTHSports | sports@dailytarheel.com