"My dad never pushes me to go to Syracuse": Carmelo Anthony's son Kiyan Anthony reveals his parents never nudged him to choose the Orange
La La Antony believes her son Kiyan Anthony's favorite NBA player should be Carmelo Anthony, not Paul George. However, when it comes to the combo guard's college preference, neither La La nor Carmelo plans to intervene in Kiyan's process.
Melo wants his son to carve out his own professional basketball journey. It is the major reason the 17-year-old was not labeled as a sure-shot Syracuse Orange prospect for his NCAA career and garnered interest from over 20 Division I colleges.
Now, even as Kiyan Anthony evaluates his top six college programs (Syracuse included), he feels no pressure from his parents.
"[Carmelo Anthony] never pushes me to go to Syracuse just because his name is on the gym," Kiyan told ESPN on Wednesday. "He did so much at Syracuse. He knows that I'm my own person. I've just got to make my own decision at the end of the day," he added.
Alongside the Orange, Kiyan Anthony has listed Ohio State, Auburn, Rutgers, Florida State and USC as his top colleges. Even though he is driven to make the best decision for himself, Anthony does not shy away from dwelling on the possibility of becoming one of the Orangemen.
"I go there a lot and I practice, I work out there," Anthony said. "If it is that, that's what it is. But he's never going to say, 'You got to go to Syracuse. You got to go there because I went there.' He's not going to make me follow in his footsteps unless I really want to."
Syracuse Orange is in lead to land Kiyan Anthony
Out of his finalists, Syracuse was the first program to offer Kiyan Anthony in 2022. So far, it looks like the 6-foot-5 combo guard is prioritizing the school like it did with his recruitment.
Even before Anthony has visited each of his preferred schools, the best high school player in New York is planning on revisiting the school.
“It was definitely crazy seeing everything with my dad,” Anthony told Scoop B radio’s Brandon Robinson. “Everything named after him, everything like that. So I’m looking forward to taking a second visit and then nobody knows, I might go there.”
Additionally, Kiyan Anthony rescheduled his visit to USC last weekend to early October. Days later, Syracuse Orange’s coaching staff was in attendance for an in-house meeting on Thursday.
Moreover, Anthony believes that Syracuse extended him an offer due to the potential the program sees in him. With that, even though months remain in Anthony’s final decision, it looks like Orange has a significant lead over other schools.