Indiana Basketball Star Announces New Dish with Bloomington Restaurant

Indiana guard Anthony Leal has a new dish at Mother Bear's Pizza in his hometown of Bloomington.

Indiana basketball player Anthony Leal has a new NIL deal with a local restaurant in Bloomington as the 2023-24 men’s basketball season approaches.

Leal, a guard for the Hoosiers, announced on his Instagram page that he and Mother Bear’s Pizza in Bloomington have partnered on a new menu item named for Leal that is available now.

Leal wrote on Instagram, “I’ve been coming to Mother Bear’s Pizza my whole life, and now I’m excited to announce my very own menu item, The Leal Deal! The Leal Deal includes 10 Boneless Wings (sauced as you like) and an order of @motherbears_pizza unbeatable Cheesy Bread. Swipe to see how it’s made! #MotherBearsPizza #Ad”

Mother Bear’s Pizza has two locations in Bloomington, one near campus and one the west side of town. Mother Bear’s opened in 1973 and per its web site it was named one of People Magazine “top nine pizzas” in America.

Leal has played for Indiana for three seasons, as he joined the program in 2020-21. In his first two seasons he averaged nearly 11 minutes per game. Last season he played in just 11 games and only played 2.1 minutes per game.

But, he has clout locally. Leal was named Mr. Basketball in Indiana and played at Bloomington South High School, where he was ranked No. 127 in the contry by Rivals.com coming out of high school. He finished his prep career with a school record 1,620 points and was named First-Team All-State, an Indiana All-Star and the Bloomington Herald Times Player of the Year hi senior year. He averaged 18.2 points and 4.3 rebounds per game that season.