Antheny Carey making the most of 2nd chance

Following a string of bad decisions, Antheny Carey had the thing he loved most taken away from him.

Carey was beginning to flourish as a sophomore basketball player at Oak Mountain High School when he was pulled off the team and not allowed to play, as the consequences to those choices hit home.

“It woke me up,” said Carey, now a senior at Oak Mountain.

But the story doesn’t end there for Carey — quite the opposite. Fast forward a couple years, and Carey is one of three seniors for the Eagles varsity team, playing big minutes as a 6-foot-5 forward.

“I couldn’t be any more proud of a kid than I am of him because he really has blossomed in everything, and I’m not just saying that generically,” said Oak Mountain head coach Chris Love.

Without basketball during his sophomore year, Carey was faced with additional decisions. He could either continue doing things he was comfortable with, or he could make changes for the better.

He chose the latter.

“I had to change a lot of stuff,” he said. “It was hard, but I had to.”

Carey succeeded and was allowed to return to the Oak Mountain basketball program as a junior, and he’s spent the past year and a half proving that his father and Love made the right call in giving him a second chance.

“I’m really thankful for Coach Love,” Carey said. “He could’ve kicked me off the team [permanently] and not let me play for Oak Mountain basketball, but I’m really glad he didn’t.”

Even though he was welcomed back into the program, Carey still had to approach his junior season with the proper mindset. After missing a year of playing, Love thought it best for Carey to spend the year with the junior varsity team, since it would provide him a significantly larger amount of playing time.

That wasn’t what Carey wanted to hear, but he accepted it and never complained.

“He had a great attitude about it,” Love said.

Now Carey is a senior and trying to make the most of his final high school season. Not only has he earned his spot on the varsity squad through hard work and made the most of his second opportunity, but he’s become a key cog for the team.

“As a player, he’s one of our best defenders,” Love said. “He’s one of our best rebounders, he’s coming into his own offensively.”

Oak Mountain is looking to return to the postseason for the first time since 2016 and can do so by winning a game in the opening round of the Class 7A, Area 5 tournament, which is set for Feb. 7-9.

“We’re still trying to find that chemistry,” Carey said. “It’s getting there, though. Our team is real young, but I’m having fun. It’s a fun year so far. It’s going by so fast.”

Love said he sees Carey’s confidence growing with each game and that “his best basketball is ahead of him.” All of Carey’s teammates recognize him for the ever-present smile he carries on his face as well.

Perhaps it’s because he regained his first love.

“He’s having a lot of fun right now,” Love said. “That’s neat to see a kid kind of fight through a struggle and get to the point where he’s having fun.”