Carmelo Anthony’s son Kiyan is set to embark on his freshman campaign at Syracuse later this year, having announced his decision to play for the Orange during an appearance on the 7PM in Brooklyn podcast in November.
Speaking with Sports Illustrated as part of his AT&T March Madness campaign, Carmelo detailed his wish for Kiyan’s freshman season on campus.
“I just want him to go have fun. Go have fun, enjoy the college experience. I want him to enjoy being a college basketball player,” Anthony said. “That’s a different type of experience. Once you experience that, then you feel like, ‘O.K., O.K.. I’ve got that, now it’s time for me to move on.’ But you can’t move on until you actually experience that.
“I just want him to get on campus, have a good year, develop, get better on the court. … Now, it’s about basketball. It’s about developing, you don’t have no time for anything else. It’s books and ball. I think having him in that environment where he can just lock in and just focus. He’s on campus, he understands that this is college basketball and what comes with that.”
Kiyan is heralded as a four-star prospect and the No. 1 player in the state of New York. He elected to follow in his father’s footsteps by committing to Syracuse, despite the added pressure that may come with such a decision. At the end of the day, Carmelo made clear he just wants to see Kiyan enjoying his freshman season and honing his craft during the next steps in his basketball journey.
Carmelo, of course, was a Consensus All-American and a national champion during his lone season at Syracuse, during which he averaged 22.2 points and 10 rebounds per game. When asked about similarities between his game and Kiyan’s, Carmelo said, “I think the way he shoots the ball, I think the way that he attacks, and just his mindset. He’s starting to grow into the mindset of, you know, this is business, it’s time to go.”
Kiyan is one of four players to commit to Syracuse in the class of 2025, which is ranked by 247 Sports as the No. 10 class in the nation. He’ll be joined on campus by fellow newcomers in Sadiq White Jr., Luke Fennell and Aaron Womack.
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