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The college basketball season kicked off this week. While Syracuse isn’t atop any of the rankings, there’s one reason people are tuning into the upstate New York basketball powerhouse: Kiyan Anthony.
The 18-year-old is following in his father, Carmelo Anthony’s footsteps as a member of the Orange, and if his debut in the 85-47 win over Binghamton is any sign, he’ll fit right in.
Things took a turn early when senior JJ Starling suffered a leg injury just 3 minutes into the game, which sent him limping off the court and sitting on the bench the rest of the game with his thigh wrapped —signaling a hamstring injury—and a towel over his head.
It led to Kiyan getting more playing time, dropping 15 points on 6-for-10 shooting in 28 minutes of play.
He knew what JJ’s injury meant, and was ready to embrace the next-man-up mentality.
“I was like, damn man,” Anthony told Syracuse.com “Like, JJ, you know, this is his senior campaign. It’s unfortunate he couldn’t be out there, but, you know, the game has to go on and guys got to step up.”
Even he’ll admit he started off a bit cold, missing his first two shots, with his first point being a free throw, which was followed by his first field goal, a jumper, with about 2 minutes left in the first half.
“I started 0 and 2,” he said, “so I just tried to set the tone defensively to get my offense really going.”
Syracuse Orange head coach Adrian Autry praised Anthony’s performance, also recognizing his defense.
“I thought Kiyan played really extremely well,’’ Autry said. “I thought especially on the defensive end, I thought he gave a lot of energy. I thought he moved. I thought he made the right rotations. So I was extremely proud of him tonight on that end.’’
He hit a stride in the second half, including a step-back jumper straight out of Melo’s playbook, and he graciously thanked his father for the move.
He added, “That was his shot. He passed it down to me.”
Melos’ new gig as a member of the NBA on NBC coverage team meant he was preoccupied giving Ja Morant a pep talk instead of watching Kiyan’s first collegiate game in person.
But Kiyan did have his mom La La sitting courtside and of his father, he says, “He was definitely watching through the screen.’’
Since Melo couldn’t get to the game, the NBA on NBC crew showed his proud reaction to Kiyan’s first post-game interview.
Even LeBron James responded to his solid opening performance, posting a picture of his stats on his Instagram Story with the caption “yessir nephew!!!”
It’s still unclear how bad Starling’s hamstring injury is, but Anthony will continue to step up in his place.
Check out the reactions to the beginning of Kiyan’s Syracuse career below.
