Saint Mary鈥檚 University of Minnesota junior guard Raheem Anthony is thriving
WINONA, Minn. (BVM) 鈥� Raheem Anthony is doing very well at Saint Mary鈥檚 University of Minnesota and he is looking to continue to do that next year.
Currently a junior at Saint Mary鈥檚, Anthony has just finished up his third season with the Cardinals, in which Saint Mary鈥檚 finished 8-16 overall.
It unfortunately ended with a loss to Hamline University 89-64 in the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) Tournament playoff opener on February 19. In that game, he had 15 points and seven assists.
He had a great junior season, averaging 16.4 points, 8.6 rebounds, and 4.6
assists, leading Saint Mary鈥檚 in all three categories. Anthony was named MIAC Athlete of the Week twice this season, once on Dec. 6, and the other time being on Feb. 7. He was named All-MIAC First Team as well.
鈥淚鈥檇 say my best game was this season,鈥� Anthony said. 鈥淚 had 35 points and like 12 rebounds earlier in December鈥� A real great game.鈥�
Now Anthony is looking to make a statement next season.
鈥淲e kinda didn鈥檛 have a season as planned, a lot of distractions so, I鈥檓 gonna lock back in for next season and make a good playoff run,鈥� Anthony said. 鈥淲e had a lot of injuries. We had a lot of covid related issues, like where our whole team would get shut down at some points.鈥�
It was a tough season but Anthony has loved playing at Saint Mary鈥檚. A decision that in part was due to his brother Kareem Anthony-Bello, who played with Raheem at Saint Mary鈥檚.
鈥淢y brother was a big influence because he was a student athlete,鈥� Anthony said.
Following his decision his transition to college from high school has been easy which has just helped to reassure Anthony on his decision.
鈥淚t鈥檚 been fairly easy, not easy in a way but like, it wasn鈥檛 too bad,鈥� Anthony said. 鈥淜ind of like everyone else was a bit stronger than me, and in high school there aren鈥檛 that many tall people, so going to college, there鈥檚 a lot of tall players, and taller players in your position, so it鈥檚 kinda hard to adjust at first but, a couple games in, it only took for me to adjust.鈥�
In his freshman year, he started all 22 games for Saint Mary鈥檚. Anthony led the team in rebounds (6.3) and was second in scoring (11.8) and assists (2.8). The Cardinals finished 14-13 in Anthony鈥檚 first season and Anthony was also named MIAC All-First-Year Team that season.
In his sophomore year, which was unfortunately heavily reduced due to COVID, he still did very well. Saint Mary鈥檚 went 6-2 in eight games and Anthony led Saint Mary鈥檚 in scoring with 18.4 points, was second in rebounds with 6.6, and led St Mary鈥檚 in assists with 3.1.
He is also a communications major. Anthony had wanted to be a Psych major at first but shied away from it because he didn鈥檛 know too much about it. With Communications, he had wanted to know the ways that businesses communicate especially through COVID.
鈥淚t鈥檚 a grind but it’s gonna pay off,鈥� Anthony said. 鈥滻t hasn鈥檛 been too hard to where like it鈥檚 a lot of too much work, but I feel like it鈥檚 just, it鈥檚 been just the right amount, especially balancing basketball and schoolwork so yeah, it’s been alright.鈥�
His ability to balance both has allowed Anthony to improve each and every season at Saint Mary鈥檚. Meaning that his goal of having a better senior season should be attainable especially because along with his improvement the Cardinals are returning 17 guys..
Anthony鈥檚 goal is to lock back in next season and make a solid playoff run.
