Overview
Tony Sanders JR is a 6 foot 7 wing who is known for his versatility. Sanders recently committed to Notre Dame a few weeks ago as part of the 2020 recruiting class. He joins classmates Matt Zona and Elijah Taylor in this class. Sanders Chose Notre Dame over a lot of successful programs such as Dayton, Florida State, Georgia, South Carolina, Xavier and a few other programs. Sanders father told Irish Sports Daily "We were looking for something that was going to give him the best of both worlds and i don't think you can go wrong with Notre Dame, so i supported him with his decision on that." clearly academics were a big focus for the three star recruit just like every Notre Dame commit. Despite all of his big time offers Sanders wasn't ranked super high, he was the 197th ranked player in the 2020 class by 247 sports and he is a consensus three star recruit just like Matt Zona and Elijah Taylor. Sanders is the 2nd highest ranked player in Notre Dame's 2020 recruiting class by 247 sports (Taylor was ranked 190th, Sanders was ranked 198th and Matt Zona was ranked 267th).
Stats
He averaged 13.3 ppg in his freshman year and he has averaged more than that every year of his high school career
Senior year- 20.7 PPG 7.2 RPG 1.3 APG 42% from the field and 34% from three and he attempted over 5 threes a game
Strengths
Sanders is a player who has a lot of different strengths, my favorite skill of his is his versatility, he can play the wing or the four offensively and he can realistically guard 1-4 at the college level depending on the matchup. His versatility will allow him to possibly contribute in his freshman year. Sanders is the perfect player to have for Notre Dame's spread out offense especially without the lack of a true big man in future years. Another big part of Sanders game is his athleticism, this is part of the reason why he is so versatile, he can play above the rim which helps him in all facets of the game. The three star also has incredible length and quickness which help him on both sides of the ball. Offensively he is a three level scorer with an emphasis on mid range that can attack the basket and can finish through contact. Both of these things are things the team lacked last year that he could really help with.
Weaknesses
Sanders is a guy who didn't struggle with much in high school he was way bigger than most of the guys who were guarding him or at least it seemed that way, this may be a little bit of a reach but i could definitely see him struggling to adjust to the pace of play in the ACC and the size of the guys he's playing against. A huge trend I saw in articles and on twitter about Sanders is his poor shot selection and consistency which are things he will have to fix when he gets to Notre Dame. Overall though Sanders is a well rounded player who can contribute early on in my opinion.
Current Player Comparison
Robby Carmody
When I look at comparisons for Tony Sanders only one guy is similar in my opinion and that would be Robby Carmody, although he isn't as athletic as Carmody (nobody on the team is in my opinion) he reminds me of him in that he attacks the basket and is a three level scorer just like Carmody.
What To Expect From Him
This first year I expect Sanders to come off the bench and immediately contribute because of his versatility and size. I think his ability to get to the basket will be a nice complement to Prentiss Hubb, Cormac Ryan, and Trey Wertz in future years. I dont ever expect him to be a star, especially since he may be blocked by Robby Carmody and J.R. Konieczny in the future but i do expect him to contribute every year and develop into a nice player
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