Anthony Polite | |
Number: | 3 |
Position: | Small forward |
League: | B.League |
Team: | Fukushima Firebonds |
Birth Date: | 21 June 1997 |
Birth Place: | Lugano, Switzerland |
Height Ft: | 6 |
Height In: | 6 |
Weight Lb: | 214 |
High School: | Saint Andrew's School (Boca Raton, Florida) |
College: | Florida State (2017–2022) |
Draft Year: | 2022 |
Career Start: | 2022 |
Years1: | 2022–2023 |
Team1: | ASVEL |
Years2: | 2023 |
Team2: | Hamburg Towers |
Team3: | Río Breogán |
Years3: | 2023–2024 |
Team4: | Fukushima Firebonds |
Years4: | 2024–present |
Anthony Michael Lewis Polite (born 21 June 1997) is a Swiss professional basketball player for the Fukushima Firebonds of the Japanese B.League. He played college basketball for the Florida State Seminoles.
Polite was born in Lugano, Switzerland, where his father was playing basketball professionally.[1] He grew up playing football and basketball. He moved to the United States to attend high school at Saint Andrew's School in Boca Raton, Florida.[2] As a senior, Polite averaged 20 points and 11.7 rebounds per game, earning All-Palm Beach 6A-1A Player of the Year honors for a second straight year.[3] He committed to playing college basketball for Florida State over an offer from Miami (Florida), among others.[4]
Polite redshirted his first season at Florida State due to knee injuries.[5] As a freshman, he averaged 2.7 points per game. Polite averaged 5.8 points in his sophomore season.[6] On 22 March 2021, he scored a career-high 22 points in a 71–53 win over Colorado at the second round of the NCAA tournament.[1] As a junior, Polite averaged 10.1 points and 4.5 rebounds per game, shooting 43.6 percent from three-point range.[7]
On 5 April 2022, Polite declared for the 2022 NBA draft, forgoing his remaining college eligibility.[8]
On July 13, 2022, he has signed with ASVEL of the French LNB Pro A.[9]
On January 14, 2023, he signed with Hamburg Towers of the German Basketball Bundesliga.[10]
On June 20, 2023, he signed with CB Breogán of the Spanish Liga ACB and Basketball Champions League.[11]
Polite inked a deal with the Fukushima Firebonds of the Japanese B.League.[12]
Polite represented Switzerland at the 2015 FIBA Europe Under-18 Championship Division B and the 2013 FIBA Europe Under-16 Championship Division B.[13]
|-| style="text-align:left;"| 2017–18| style="text-align:left;"| Florida State| 1 || 0 || 4.0 || – || – || – || 1.0 || 1.0 || 1.0 || .0 || .0|-| style="text-align:left;"| 2018–19| style="text-align:left;"| Florida State| 30 || 0 || 10.6 || .382 || .239 || .773 || 1.6 || .6 || .6 || .0 || 2.7|-| style="text-align:left;"| 2019–20| style="text-align:left;"| Florida State| 31 || 8 || 19.7 || .406 || .354 || .679 || 2.9 || 1.1 || 1.2 || .2 || 5.8|-| style="text-align:left;"| 2020–21| style="text-align:left;"| Florida State| 21 || 16 || 26.6 || .500 || .436 || .667 || 4.5 || 1.8 || 1.4 || .4 || 10.1|-| style="text-align:left;"| 2021–22| style="text-align:left;"| Florida State| 24 || 24 || 27.9 || .429 || .321 || .800 || 5.6 || 2.5 || 1.5 || .5 || 9.9 |- class="sortbottom"| style="text-align:center;" colspan="2"| Career| 107 || 48 || 20.2 || .436 || .349 || .741 || 3.4 || 1.4 || 1.1 || .3 || 6.6
Polite's father, Michael, played college basketball for Florida State before embarking on a professional career in Europe.[14]