Yeah, Melo. That's what I'm talking about.
This week, at a preview event for the NBA's 2025-26 season, Carmelo Anthony made quite a bold prediction about Syracuse basketball's prospects in its upcoming campaign.
Anthony, who this season will serve as a studio analyst for NBC Sports as the NBA returns to NBC and will also debut on Peacock later this month, was asked which teams he thinks will make the Final Four in next spring's NCAA Tournament.
His response? "Cuse - that’s the first team I have in there right now. I’ll let you know, as the season goes, who are the other three."
I like Melo's confidence in his alma mater. That would be some kind of turnaround if the Orange went from 14-19 a season ago, the program's worst record in decades, and then advanced to the Final Four in the 2026 Big Dance.
Syracuse basketball legend Carmelo Anthony is a busy man these days.
In addition to serving as a studio analyst for NBC Sports, Anthony will be at the JMA Wireless Dome and other college basketball venues to watch his son, shooting guard Kiyan Anthony, play in his freshman campaign for the 'Cuse.
It will be interesting to see how much playing time the younger Anthony gets in 2025-26. Any Orange fans who are expecting him to replicate what his dad did in his lone season on the Hill, candidly, are being unrealistic.
Carmelo Anthony, in the 2002-03 stanza, had one of the best terms ever in college basketball. He averaged 22 points and 10 rebounds per game, winning national freshman of the year honors and being named a second-team All-American.
More importantly, he guided Syracuse basketball to a 30-5 overall record and the program's first and only national championship. Melo was fabulous for USA Basketball, winning three Olympic gold medals. He retired inside the top 10 of the NBA's all-time scoring list.
Last month, Anthony, the 6-foot-8 forward, was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. And now, his son, the 6-foot-5 Kiyan Anthony, takes the center stage for Syracuse basketball. Anthony is an excellent prospect in his own right, landing inside the top 30 nationally of the 2025 class, as well as a top-10 shooting guard.
The Orange has a deep and versatile roster, as the 'Cuse eyes returning to the Big Dance after a four-year absence. Don't expect Kiyan Anthony to be the national freshman of the year. But if he helps Syracuse basketball reach the Final Four, that would be sensational.