Syracuse lands Kiyan Anthony, son of legend Carmelo Anthony

Kiyan Anthony, Carmelo Anthony‘s son and a top-40 recruit in the class of 2025, announced Friday that he is following in his father’s footsteps and committing to Syracuse.

Anthony made the announcement on his father’s “7PM in Brooklyn” show.

The Orange were chosen from a final list that also included USC and Auburn. Syracuse had been the longtime favorite, but Anthony went through a legitimate recruitment, taking official visits to Florida State as a junior and USC two months ago.

“Ultimately, it came down to my relationship with the staff,” Anthony told ESPN. “From day one, when they started recruiting me, they made me feel like it was family. My dad’s name on the facility is special, but I want to go in there and create my own name, and I’ve already done that through my dedication in the offseason, with early-morning practices, playing at camps, playing on the circuit.”

While his father’s connection to the school was a huge factor in his recruitment, Anthony also developed his own strong relationship with coach Adrian Autry.

“I’m going to do everything Coach Autry needs me to do,” Anthony said. “We talk a lot, especially late at night, about how we can make Syracuse basketball great. Off the court, Coach is super cool. You could go out with him on a Friday night. He’s still young and connects with all his players; he is very relatable.”

Carmelo Anthony was a 10-time NBA All-Star, scoring more than 28,000 career points and getting named to the NBA 75th Anniversary Team in 2021. During his one season at Syracuse in 2003, he led the Orange to the national championship as a freshman, earning All-American and NCAA Final Four Most Outstanding Player honors.

For better or worse, Kiyan was compared to his father from a young age.

“The struggle was real, especially in middle school and my freshman year in high school,” he said. “I didn’t know what I was doing then, but I started listening to my dad. I trusted his words, established a routine and began to change into my own player. The biggest difference between me and my dad is that he was a straight-up bucket, a straight-up bully….