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Jeff Borzello, ESPN Staff Writer
Top-50 senior Kiyan Anthony, the son of future Hall of Famer Carmelo Anthony, announced his final six schools on Thursday — with his father’s alma mater, Syracuse, among the contenders.
The Orange are joined on Anthony’s final list by Auburn, Florida State, Ohio State, USC and Rutgers.
Syracuse, led by second-year head coach Adrian “Red” Autry, has made Anthony a priority for the 2025 class. The Orange’s staff was a mainstay at Anthony’s games earlier this month during the evaluation period, and Anthony visited the campus with his parents last fall.
“I just like the atmosphere, you know, obviously my dad went there 20-something years ago, so I just like the atmosphere, I like the family environment,” Anthony told ZagsBlog recently. “The coaches, I feel like they’re recruiting me for myself, and not just because of my father. That’s what I like. I just feel like they’re rebuilding, and they’re looking to get a winning team. I feel like I can help them do that if I was to go there.”
Anthony is close with incoming Syracuse freshman Elijah Moore and is grassroots teammates with Tyler Jackson, another priority recruit in the 2025 class for the Orange.
Florida State head coach Leonard Hamilton, Ohio State head coach Jake Diebler and Rutgers head coach Steve Pikiell were all spotted at Anthony’s final game of the second evaluation period last weekend, too. Anthony took a trip to Florida State last fall for an official visit and is looking to set up visits with his other finalists.
A 6-foot-5 shooting guard who attends Long Island Lutheran (New York), Anthony is ranked No. 40 in the ESPN 100 for the 2025 class.
He’s coming off of a productive few weeks on the camp and grassroots circuit. Anthony averaged 28.5 points at the NBPA Top 100 Camp in June, then averaged 21.8 points in eight games at the PIT in July — including a 40-point performance against Mac Irvin Fire (Illinois), when he shot 15-for-19 from the field and made five 3-pointers.
In the spring, Anthony averaged 19.6 points for Team Melo on the Nike EYBL circuit.