Raleigh guard sets personal best

Anton Gill and the Garner Road 16s finished second at the Kentucky Hoopfest, but Gill put on a shooting display he won’t forget in the semifinals.

Anton Gill is known as a scorer, but that doesn’t mean he still won’t score in ways he’s never done before.

At the Kentucky Hoopfest last week, the 2013 guard went 5 of 6 from 3 in the semifinals to help power his team in the championship game. To put that into perspective, Gill only missed his first 3-point attempt of the game.

“I was just open,” Gill said. “I was just feeling it a little bit. Now, that I think about it, it’s probably hard to hit five straight when you’re practicing. I’m just happy they went in.

“I didn’t even realize it, it just came in the flow.”

The Raleigh, N.C. guard didn’t force anything in his 21-point effort — which is something college coaches like to see.

“I played well, hit a couple of 3s, played pretty good defense to try to get the win,” he said. “With all of these coaches, I just wanted to show the best of my ability.”

So far, the coaches that have offered him are the ones at South Carolina, N.C. State, Wake Forest, ECU, UNC Charlotte, Louisville, Miami and Oklahoma State.

North Carolina, Texas, Florida, Xavier and Marquette are also showing interest, with the Tar Heels expressing a little bit more interest than they have been.

Certain schools have been putting more work in than others, according to Gill.

“I get letters everyday from schools like South Carolina, N.C. State and Wake Forest,” he said. “They show me they’re out here supporting at every game.”

Though Gill and Garner Road fell short in the championship game, they are using their experience in Louisville to take momentum heading into AAU Nationals down in Orlando at the end of the month.

“I’m going with the same mindset — be aggressive and show what I can do,” the 6-foot-2 guard said. “We’re not going down there just to play, we’re going down there to win the whole thing.”