Carmelo Anthony Considered Returning To Syracuse For Sophomore Year
At the New York Knicks practice on Friday, Carmelo Anthony told the media that he considered returning to Syracuse for his sophomore season after leading the Orange to a national championship during his freshman year in 2003, via team reporter Adam Zagoria,
I did not know [I was leaving] until after we won the championship and even up until that point I still went in there and had a conversation with [Syracuse coach Jim] Boeheim about trying to figure out how to come back to school.
I had the press conference, I was crying in the press conference because at that point I didn’t really want to leave, I had so much fun at that point in time.
It wasn’t till [Boeheim] told me to pack my bags and get on outta there, so that’s what happened.
The rest, as they say, is history. Anthony was selected no. 3 overall in the 2003 NBA Draft by the Denver Nuggets. In retrospect, he definitely made the right decision, but there was clearly a desire from Anthony to try and return for a shot at back-to-back national titles,
It was a little part of me that was like, ‘Man, I want to experience this again,’ And then once all the smoke cleared, from a basketball standpoint, there wasn’t really anything more that I could accomplish.
It’s always interesting to hear how sincere players are about staying in school, especially the ones like Anthony, who are undoubtedly ready to transition to the NBA. College basketball fans would be treated to more star power if more guys stuck around, but it’s also no question that you should go when you’re ready. Carmelo Anthony was ready.
