Kiyan Anthony: Carmelo Not Pushing Syracuse 'Just Because His Name Is on the Gym'

Four-star shooting guard Kiyan Anthony, the son of ex-NBA star Carmelo Anthony, ranks 28th overall on 247Sports' composite list of the top class of 2025 high school men's basketball players. Anthony has 21 offers and four visits lined up, including one to Syracuse, where his father starred and won an NCAA championship in 2003.

There's certainly a natural inclination to connect Anthony to Syracuse given his father's legacy, which also includes his name on the practice facility. But Kiyan Anthony said that Carmelo hasn't pushed him toward Syracuse.

"[My father] never pushes me to go to Syracuse just because his name is on the gym," Anthony told ESPN's Myron Medcalf 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.

"If it is Syracuse—I go there a lot and I practice, I work out there—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."

Anthony certainly has interest elsewhere. He has visits set for USC, Florida State and Rutgers as well, per 247Sports. And his offers include Tennessee, Seton Hall, Michigan, Maryland, Indiana, Ohio State, Auburn and Arizona State.

So Anthony has his options, which is unsurprising given the resume that the 6'5", 185-pound guard has already carved for himself. He's well-respected industry-wide, with a No. 36 spot in the 2025 ESPN 100 rankings, No. 34 on Rivals and No. 30 on On3.

Perhaps Anthony stars at Syracuse soon enough, but for now, he's got his senior year ahead of him at Long Island Lutheran.