As his father did before him, Kiyan Anthony will play college basketball at Syracuse. Anthony, 17, is the son of Carmelo Anthony, who cemented his legend with the Orange by leading them to a national championship as a freshman in 2002-03.
Anthony, a 6-foot-5 shooting guard out of Long Island Lutheran High School in Brookville, New York, is rated as the No. 48 player nationally by Rivals and No. 15 at his position.
At the summer National Basketball Players Association (NBPA) Top 100 Camp, Anthony averaged 28.5 points per game to top all players. In the spring, he averaged 19.6 points for Team Melo on the Nike EYBL circuit.
Syracuse offered Anthony a scholarship two years ago, along with 17 other schools including Tennessee, Indiana, Illinois, Rutgers, Auburn, USC, Arizona State and Ohio State. He officially announced his choice on Carmelo’s podcast, “7PM in Brooklyn,” on Friday.
“At the end of the day, only one could stay,” Kiyan said, with his mother also on the show for the big announcement. “And with that being said, I’ll be committing to Syracuse University.”
On the podcast, Carmelo dismissed the notion that his son will face pressure to live up to his father’s legacy at Syracuse.
“My message to him was, don’t be afraid of it, embrace it,” he said. “The guys that looked at me, that watched me, is not your fans. You have an opportunity to carve out a whole new fan base. My [time] was 20 years ago. …You’ve got a new fan base, you’ve got new energy.”
Nonetheless, fans and media are bound to bring up Carmelo’s achievements at Syracuse before Kiyan begins his college career. During his only season with the Orange, Carmelo averaged 22.2 points and 10 rebounds per game as Syracuse finished 30–5 and won the program’s first national title.
He went on to play 19 seasons in the NBA, averaging 22.5 points and 6.2 rebounds for the Denver Nuggets, New York Knicks, Portland Trail Blazers, Oklahoma City Thunder, Los Angeles Lakers and Houston Rockets.