Syracuse Basketball: 4-star Kiyan Anthony to ‘Cuse far from a sure thing, per analyst

Syracuse basketball is undeniably a big-time contender for 2025 four-star shooting guard Kiyan Anthony from New York City, who is the son of Orange legend Carmelo Anthony.

The 6-foot-5 Kiyan Anthony, a consensus top-50 national prospect in the junior class, received a scholarship offer from the ‘Cuse coaching staff in November of 2022, and he took an official visit to the Hill last October.

He’s also officially visited fellow Atlantic Coast Conference squad Florida State. Anthony has said on numerous occasions that he is likely to take more official visits, with Big Ten Conference schools Indiana and Michigan often mentioned as destinations.

Ever since the ‘Cuse offered Kiyan Anthony, there has been a fairly large contingent of Syracuse basketball fans, on social media and in chat rooms, who have voiced their opinions in adamantly stating that Anthony is pretty much a lock to ultimately don an Orange uniform down the road.

I’ve never, ever been in that camp, although I do understand the sentiment. Anthony has said in multiple interviews that the potential opportunity to carry on his father’s legacy in Central New York is appealing, but he’s also said many times that he’s keeping his options open.

To me, having the mindset that Kiyan Anthony is 100 percent coming to the ‘Cuse seems a little naïve, although I mean no disrespect to any of my fellow Orange fans.

A recruiting analyst weighs in on Syracuse basketball and Kiyan Anthony.

Anthony, who runs on the AAU circuit with the Baltimore-based Team Melo in Nike’s EYBL league, is a junior at the powerhouse Long Island Lutheran High School in Brookville, N.Y., which competes in the country’s top high school conference, the Nike Elite Youth Basketball League Scholastic.

His full offer sheet, at this juncture, includes college squads such as West Virginia, UCF, Michigan, Maryland, Dayton, Florida State, Pittsburgh, Albany, Illinois, Indiana, Tennessee, Seton Hall, UMass, Providence, Memphis, Bryant, George Mason and Manhattan.

Rob Cassidy, a national analyst with Rivals.com, said in a recent piece that he’s intrigued by Anthony’s recruitment.

Cassidy goes on to write in part, “This one seems to have extra intrigue based on the fact that Jim Boeheim is retired and not involved. Legacy only recruits seem like open-and-shut cases when the guy that coached dad is still in place, which isn’t the case here. Add in the fact that the family has ties to a number of other coaching staffs, including Florida State, and Adrian Autry’s program has a serious fight on its hands. I think there’s a faction of casual observers that feel like the younger Anthony is a near done deal to Syracuse based on vibes or whatever, but that certainly doesn’t feel like the case from people I’ve spoken with. We’ll see what happens, but, win or lose, there are going to be some tense moments in the Syracuse basketball offices in the year ahead."

I agree with Cassidy here, and he’s way more plugged in than I am. Do I think that Syracuse basketball will be a contender for Kiyan Anthony right until the end of his recruiting process? I do.

But I also believe that Florida State is a significant contender for him. So are Indiana and Michigan. Kentucky has shown an interest in Anthony. He could receive other impressive offers in the coming weeks or months.

For what it’s worth, when I wrote this article, On3’s recruiting prediction machine had the Orange in the No. 1 spot for Anthony, followed by Florida State at No. 2. However, as he takes more visits, this could certainly change.

Anthony, who will be on national television this Monday, Jan. 15, when Long Island Lutheran plays at the annual Spalding Hoophall Classic in Springfield, Mass., recently vaulted into the top 30 in updated 2025 national rankings from On3.

He’s a consensus top-10 shooting guard and the No. 1 prospect in New York state within the junior class. Whichever college program lands Anthony will be getting an extremely talented prospect. Naturally, I hope Syracuse basketball wins out for Melo’s son.