Indiana University basketball guard Anthony Leal surprises his sister by paying off her student loans. After the NCAA changed their policy in 2021 and started allowing college athletes to earn endorsement money, IU basketball star Leal hit the ground running, cashing in on his talents. By the end of last year, the junior shooting guard had saved “tens of thousands of dollars.”
But rather than spend the money on himself, Anthony decided to make good on a goal he’d set for himself. On Christmas morning as the Leal family opened presents at their Bloomington home, Anthony’s sister Lauren Leal got a card from her little brother. Anthony’s parents tweeted a video of the touching moment when his sister opened the card and read that he’d paid off all of her student loan debt.
Lauren had just graduated from IU and had racked up a "very solid, five-figure” amount of student debt. She says in the video that she doesn’t even know how much it was exactly and her brother replies, “I do. It’s zero now.” Anthony says it “felt good” to help his older sister, who he says is responsible for helping to get where he is today. "It was a good little way to finish off Christmas morning," Anthony says, adding that he enjoyed the reaction from his family, "I was happy to put a smile on their faces."