LSU Alum Angel Reese Attempts to Influence Kiyan Anthony’s College Decision With Just Days to Go

Kiyan Anthony, son of basketball great Carmelo Anthony, is close to making his college decision, yet he’s still torn between three major choices: Syracuse, USC, and Auburn. “Just what coaches have on me lately and where I can go in right away and see growth, where I can develop my game and just try to win,” Kiyan told Angel Reese about his deciding factor. After hearing his thoughts, the WNBA icon offered her prediction on where Kiyan will take his talents.

“Syracuse is fire. I went on a Syracuse visit. Syracuse was actually one of my best visits,” expressed Reese during the latest episode of her podcast, ‘Unapologetically Angel’. After high school, Reese was projected as a five-star recruit in her 2020 class by ESPN. By her junior year, she held offers from Maryland, South Carolina, and Louisville. However, her finalists were USC, Tennessee, South Carolina, and Syracuse.

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Ultimately, she chose to sign her letter of intent with Maryland due to its proximity to home. This is why she believes Kiyan, facing a similar situation, should go with Syracuse. “I want you to go to… okay, We’re gonna mark this down today. I think you’re gonna go to—well, I don’t know if you’re going to follow your dad, I don’t know. But I’m going to say Syracuse,” she added.

The 6’5″ guard from Long Island Lutheran High School in New York, has played alongside top recruits like VJ Edgecombe. Like Reese, he is projected as the No. 10 recruit in his 2025 class. But while Reese’s choice for Kiyan is clear, the question remains:

Will Kiyan Anthony follow Reese’s advice?

The 17-year-old shooting guard has been linked to Syracuse for obvious reasons. His father, Carmelo Anthony, led the Orange on their historic run to the 2003 national championship as a freshman. Carmelo even donated $3 million to the program for a new basketball facility. It would be after him eventually.

Despite this, Carmelo has never pushed Kiyan toward his alma mater. “my dad always tells me, ‘Don’t feel like you got to go to Syracuse just because I went there,” Kiyan told On3. Carmelo knows his son is “his own person” who will make his “own decisions at the end of the day.”

Though Kiyan is aware that many people want him to go to Syracuse, he’s taking his time to communicate with coaches from top schools before deciding. However, Syracuse still stands out. For a bonus, during his visit in October, he even posed for pictures in Syracuse jerseys with his father. “Carry the torch?🍊#officialvisit,” he had written.

Kiyan had previously told that he would announce his decision in the last week of October or the first week of November. Considering we are already there, not long before we learn if Angel Reese got her prediction right.