Carmelo Anthony joined Syracuse in the fall of 2002, and by the end of the season, he was a national champion before embarking on a Hall of Fame NBA career.
Kiyan Anthony is following in his father’s footsteps two decades later, and the freshman guard makes his Orange debut against visiting Binghamton on Nov. 3.
“I knew anywhere I went it would be a lot of pressure,” Anthony told reporters at Syracuse’s media day. “If I went to a DIII school, it still would have been there. I can’t run from it. I just try to embrace it.”
Coach Adrian Autry, also a former Orange standout, enters his third season coming off a 14-19 finish. Syracuse has missed the NCAA Tournament in the past four seasons, its longest drought since the tournament expanded to 64 teams in 1985.
The Orange were picked to finish ninth in the 18-team ACC and are hoping Anthony can nudge them higher. Anthony committed to Syracuse on Nov. 15, 2024 and was considered among the top 20 shooting guards by several recruiting websites.
Anthony made his unofficial debut in a 76-66 exhibition win over Buffalo on Saturday. He came off the bench and scored 10 points and sank a pair of 3-pointers
“He’s talented. He’s a very good basketball player. Talented offensively,” Autry said of Anthony. “We expect him to come in and contribute on both sides of the floor. He can score on all three levels for sure and continues to progress, like most freshmen, on the defensive end.”
Anthony is joining a team that returns two starters in J.J. Starling and Donnie Freeman. Starling and Freeman are joined by Georgia Tech transfer Naithan George, UCLA transfer William Kyle III and Cincinnati transfer Tyler Betsey.
Binghamton enters its fifth season under coach Levell Sanders, picked to finish fifth in the America East Conference.
The Bearcats added center Demetrius Lilley from La Salle and he is a preseason first-team selection in the conference. He joins Wes Peterson Jr., who is the school’s lone returning starter.
“I think everyone needs to step up,” Sanders said at media day. “Lilley, I think, is going to be really good, he has an unbelievable motor,” Sanders said. “He’s a really good rebounder. I think he’s going to be one of the better players in the league.”
