Judging by the Hall of Fame career that he had, it’s safe to say that Carmelo Anthony was pretty special. A 6’7″ forward whose offensive bag was so deep that he could torch any defender in front of him in every which way possible. Crowd him up top? He used his quick first step to blow past the defense and get to the rim, where, with his strong physique, he could overpower nearly any rim protector in the NBA.
Giving him a sliver of space was also unwise, as Melo could drain jumpers anywhere from the midrange all the way to the three-point line. Essentially, he was a nightmare matchup for any team during his glory days in the league.
His path to superstardom in the Association was unconventional, too. While his contemporaries from the class of 2002, like Amar’e Stoudemire, headed straight to the NBA from high school, Melo did the unthinkable: he declared he would attend Syracuse before his senior season.
Melo’s epic one-and-done run
While many analysts and scouts declared Carmelo’s readiness for the big league, the player himself didn’t think he was well-equipped for the NBA’s grind and decided to attend Syracuse, which was coached by the legendary Jim Boeheim.
“I don’t think I was ready. I had an opportunity to come out, but I always wanted to go to college,” Melo said in a talk with popular broadcaster Dan Patrick in 2016.
The decision proved to be the right one as Melo turned the NCAA into his playground, averaging 22.2 points, 10.0 rebounds and 2.2 assists in 36.4 minutes per game.
He later proved that he had no conscience once the bright lights of the 2002 NCAA Tournament came on, as he had 33 points to lead the Orangemen past Texas in the Final Four, which set the record for most points scored by a freshman at that stage of the tournament.
In the final against Kansas, Melo tallied a double-double of 20 points and 10 rebounds to lead Syracuse to the championship. His incredible efforts earned him the Most Outstanding Player Award. At that point, any other player in Melo’s position would have pounced on the chance to declare for the 2003 draft, given how high his stock was.
However, there was a problem; Melo didn’t want to leave.
Related: Grant Williams explains how taxes influenced his decision to leave Boston: “$54 million in Dallas is really like $58 million in Boston and $63 million in L.A.”
Melo was having the time of his life
While nearly every scout and draft analyst was convinced that Melo was ready for the next level, the man himself had other plans. With Syracuse considered one of America’s top party schools, Melo wanted to stay and enjoy his time in college a little longer.
“I was having so much fun, though, at school. I was just having so much fun. There was so much excitement being up there at Syracuse,” he explained. “Syracuse was maybe the number one party school in America.”
“So I was actually enjoying myself up there at Syracuse. I didn’t want to leave.”
However, Melo had nowhere else to go after Boeheim made the call.
“Jim Boeheim brought me in the office and kind of kicked me out. He said, ‘You got to go,'” Melo recalled. “He said, ‘It’s time. Your services are no longer needed.'”
Melo carried his momentum to the NBA. Picked third in the famed 2003 draft by the Denver Nuggets, he averaged 21.0 points, 6.1 rebounds, 2.8 assists and 1.2 steals per game to lead his team to the playoffs and finish second, behind LeBron James, in the Rookie of the Year race.
Related: “Time for the King to head back to his kingdom” – Why LeBron James returning to Cleveland could be the perfect ending to his legendary career
This story was originally published by Basketball Network on May 15, 2026, where it first appeared in the Old School section. Add Basketball Network as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
