Syracuse Basketball: Carmelo Anthony ranks high up among top college freshman seasons

In a recent piece, ESPN's Myron Medcalf ranked the top 25 seasons by college freshmen over the past 25 years, and Syracuse basketball legend Carmelo Anthony is way high up on this list.

That's deservingly so.

The 6-foot-8 forward, who is in the top 10 of the NBA's all-time scoring list and will be in the Hall of Fame at some point in the future, put forth a magical freshman season on the Hill. Even as a collegiate newbie, Anthony helped lead the Orange to a 30-5 overall record and the program's only national championship at the conclusion of the 2002-03 season.

Anthony was named the Most Outstanding Player of the NCAA Tournament's Final Four in 2003, when he averaged around 20 points and 10 rebounds per contest for then-head coach Jim Boeheim's roster.

Medcalf, by the way, ranks Anthony's one and only term in Central New York at No. 3 on his list of the 25 best freshman seasons over the last 25 years. That placement seems about right to me.

Syracuse basketball icon Carmelo Anthony had one of the best seasons ever by a college freshman.

In the 2002-03 regular season, Anthony averaged 22.2 points and 10.0 boards per game. Among his accolades, Anthony was named the national freshman of the year and either a first-team or a second-team All-American by various media outlets. He was also the Big East Conference's rookie of the year and resided on the All-Big East first squad.

Ahead of Melo on Medcalf's list are Kevin Durant at No. 2 and Anthony Davis at No. 1. Durant, in his freshman season at Texas, didn't go far in the Big Dance, but he was the national player of the year after averaging nearly 26 points and 11 rebounds per encounter.

Davis, meanwhile, averaged 14.2 points, 10.4 boards and 4.7 blocks per game in his freshman term at Kentucky, guiding the Wildcats to the 2012 national title. He was also the national player of the year and the Most Outstanding Player of the 2012 Final Four.

I agree with Medcalf that Davis should be No. 1 on this list. I think an argument could be made that Anthony could be No. 2, instead of Durant, because Syracuse basketball cut down the nets while Texas fell in the second round of the 2007 March Madness.

On the flip side, Anthony wasn't the national player of the year in his freshman campaign, and Durant was. So we're kind of splitting hairs here.

Either way, Melo's lone stanza on the Hill was nothing short of beautiful and magnificent. And not too long ago, his son, four-star shooting guard and top-30 national prospect Kiyan Anthony of Long Island Lutheran High School in Brookville, N.Y., committed to the Orange and officially signed with Syracuse basketball in its 2025 class. Fun.