Anxious Syracuse basketball fans may not have to wait too much longer to find out whether the Orange has secured a commitment from 2025 priority target Kiyan Anthony from New York City.
The four-star shooting guard, who is down to a final three that includes the 'Cuse, has said in various interviews that he's eyeing a college decision in early November, before his senior season commences at the powerhouse Long Island Lutheran High School in Brookville, N.Y.
The 6-foot-5 Anthony, the son of Syracuse basketball legend, long-time NBA star and future Hall of Famer Carmelo Anthony, disclosed via social media at the beginning of October a top three of the Orange, Big Ten Conference member Southern California and Auburn out of the Southeastern Conference.
Efficient 26 PTS for @kiyananthony in the Long Island Crusaders’ win at the ACES Hustle & Heart Classic! 🔥 pic.twitter.com/RTRCvjXHFT
— NBA Future Starts Now (@nbafuturenow) October 27, 2024
Kiyan Anthony has officially visited both the 'Cuse and USC, but to my knowledge, he has not taken a trip to Auburn.
The Orange coaching staff has recruited Anthony hard for a long time. He picked up a scholarship offer from the program in November of 2022 and took his official visit to the Hill in late October of last year.
Syracuse basketball, based on analyst comments, could be the front-runner for Kiyan Anthony.
Anthony, a top-30 national prospect in the 2025 class, is preparing for the upcoming 2024-25 campaign with Long Island Lutheran, a squad that high school basketball experts believe will significantly contend for a return trip to the Chipotle Nationals come the spring of next year.
National analysts and recruiting insiders, lately, have chimed in on Anthony, and the sentiment appears to be that his recruitment is going to boil down to the Orange and Southern Cal.
Rob Cassidy, a national analyst with Rivals.com, discussed Anthony in a piece from earlier this month. Cassidy wrote: "Syracuse seems like the obvious answer to Anthony’s recruiting riddle, given the fact that his father, Carmelo Anthony, has a building named after him on the school’s campus. The fact that the program has stumbled a bit in recent years, however, is thought to have opened the door to other schools. ... Auburn technically appears on Anthony’s list of finalists, but nobody in the know expects the Tigers to be the pick come decision day. Instead, the Orange will be looking to hold off USC, which has made a serious push for Anthony under new head coach Eric Musselman. Anthony visited Los Angeles in late September and liked what he saw enough to include the Trojans on his list of finalists following the trip. ... Still, Syracuse feels like the front-runner here, even if some USC smoke continues to blow."
Beyond Cassidy's comments, several other well-respected analysts and industry observers have weighed in on Anthony of late, stating that USC is the Orange's biggest threat here, but that they ultimately think the 'Cuse will prevail.
In mid-May, top On3 national reporter Joe Tipton logged a prediction in Syracuse basketball's direction for Anthony, albeit with a 30 percent confidence level. There are also two projections in the Orange's favor for Anthony on Rivals.com, with both of them coming this past May as well.
Some media reports indicated that Anthony might visit Syracuse basketball again, as well as Auburn for a first time, before making his college decision, but I'm not sure that will transpire at this juncture.
Regarding the 'Cuse, its staff has pursued Anthony longer than anyone else, as far as I can tell. Beyond his official visit to Central New York, Anthony conducted an in-home visit with the Syracuse basketball staff in early September, at the start of the fall recruiting period.
Additionally, Orange coaches have been in attendance for Anthony on numerous occasions over the past few years, amid NCAA live periods, as he competed for the Baltimore-based Team Melo in Nike's EYBL league.
For many, many months, some 'Cuse fans have opined on social media and in chat rooms that Syracuse basketball is a lock to win out for Anthony. I've never been in that camp; he appears to have developed a strong relationship, more recently, with Musselman and the USC staff, and there's certainly allure to playing college basketball in Los Angeles amid the growing NIL landscape.
That being said, while I don't pretend to have inside information here, several analysts in the know have said lately that they think Anthony will call the Orange's name soon when he has his commitment announcement.
Granted, I'm nervous, but at the same time, I think that these recruiting insiders are on the right track in their assessments of where Anthony will end up.