Antonio Blakeney is a shooting guard from Watertown, New York. Blakeney attended Oak Ridge High School in Orlando, Florida where he was one of the most exciting high school hoopers to watch and was even considered to be the best high school scorer at one point.

He was not just known for his game on the court, but he also had a buzz from his Be Great documentary with the YouTube channel Home Team Hoops. He constantly showcased his work ethic and his desire to be better on that documentary.

Blakeney accomplished some achievements such as being named a McDonald’s All-American and Florida’s Mr. Basketball. He was also a 5-star recruit and ranked in the top 5 for shooting guards in the nation.

Blakeney made a verbal commitment to the University of Louisville, but de-committed weeks later. He then committed to Louisiana State University (LSU) to team up with Ben Simmons and Brandon Sampson. Antonio, Ben and Brandon saw themselves as a college superteam and called themselves the Killer Bs. Even though there was hype and potential surrounding that LSU team, many fans of Blakeney thought that he should have stayed committed to Louisville so that all the attention could be on him. After all the success he had in high school, Blakeney was supposed to be one and done. Since that LSU Tigers team did not live up to expectations by having a 19-14 record and missing the March Madness Tournament, Ben Simmons was the only one and done. 

When Blakeney returned to LSU for his sophomore season, the goal was for him to prove that he could lead and be successful without Ben Simmons. Although he had a great season and was named to the Second-team All-SEC, the Tigers regressed and had a losing record of 10-21. After the season, Blakeney declared for the 2017 NBA draft and sadly went undrafted.

Auspiciously, he was able to sign and play for the Chicago Bulls in the 2017 NBA Summer League. After a solid performance in the Summer League, he signed a two-way contract with the Bulls and their G-League affiliate, the Windy City Bulls. He flourished in the G-League and was named the 2018 NBA G-League Rookie of the Year, Second-team All NBA G-League and to the NBA G-League All-Rookie Team. He was even called up to the NBA a couple of times and put up solid points off the bench for the Bulls. The most he ever scored was 22 points off the bench in a 107-105 loss to the Indiana Pacers.

After being released by the Bulls in 2019, the next destination for Blakeney’s hoop journey was the Jiangsu Dragons in the Chinese Basketball Association (CBA.) His main goal was to use the CBA to make it back to the NBA. He balled out for the Dragons and had some monstrous games. He averaged 34.8 in 16 games played. The CBA season was postponed due to the pandemic; due to the uncertainty of when the CBA season would resume, Blakeney became worried about his basketball career. Basketball was all he knew, so he never thought about having a plan B. Fortunately for Blakeney, he became eligible for the 2021 NBA G-League Draft and was selected 3rd-overall by the Canton Charges.

The G-League 2021 season will be played in a bubble at Disney World, and that will be a great opportunity for Blakeney to flourish and have another shot at the NBA.