Kiyan Anthony didn’t enter the transfer portal, but the outside noise found him anyway.
With Syracuse in the middle of a coaching change after firing Adrian Autry at the end of the 2025-26 season, Anthony said other schools quickly made their interest known. The freshman wing averaged 8.0 points per game last season, and while several Orange players moved on, he held back and waited to see who would take over.
“A lot of schools wanted me to come visit and everything like that. But I wanted to meet with GMac first before I did anything.”
That decision ended up steering him back to Syracuse. The Orange hired Gerry McNamara on March 24, and a few days later McNamara reached out to Anthony, who was in Houston.
They spoke briefly on FaceTime before Anthony flew back the next day. The two then spent an hour and a half together in McNamara’s office.
“Last year was an emotional year for me and for the team as a whole,” Anthony said. “It was just not the year we wanted and the year we prepared for. So for me to come back and express that to him, you know, he kind of felt the same way.”
There were additional meetings, including conversations with Anthony’s parents. His father, Carmelo, played with McNamara on Syracuse’s 2003 NCAA championship team. In the end, Anthony chose to stay.
“Honestly, I feel like if anybody else got the job, I probably would have transferred,” he said.
Anthony is one of only two players from last season’s roster back with the Orange, along with sophomore forward Sadiq White. And for Anthony, McNamara was never just another coach in the mix.
“Obviously, I’ve known him since I was 4 or 5 years old,” Anthony said, referring to McNamara. “So you know, it’s a different connection (than) with any other coach you’ll get.”
That connection runs deep. McNamara and Carmelo Anthony were both freshmen on the 2002-03 Syracuse team, with Carmelo Anthony leading the Orange in scoring and rebounding at 22.2 points and 10.0 rebounds per game, while McNamara averaged 13.3 points and was the team’s top 3-point shooter. Together, they helped deliver Syracuse the 2003 national title.
“I remember coming here for the jersey retirement of my dad and him being there,” Anthony said of McNamara. “Just growing up, his name being throughout my household my whole life.
That’s my dad’s teammate. They won together.
It’s historic.”
McNamara also recruited Anthony out of high school during his time as a Syracuse assistant before leaving for Siena, which made the reunion feel even more complete.
“Full-circle moment for him to come back and keep me here,” Anthony said.
What McNamara did not do, Anthony said, was hand out any guarantees about starting roles or minutes.
“It doesn’t need to be a promise,” Anthony said. “Like, the work is the work.”
The new coach has also been direct about where Anthony has to improve. The 6-foot-5 wing shot 39% from the field and 25.4% from 3-point range as a freshman, and McNamara has not softened that message.
“You know, he tells you the truth,” Anthony said. “Just like you said, percentages.
What were you doing last year? That’s his motto, you know, you gotta get better.”
That approach has carried into summer practices, where Anthony says McNamara keeps the feedback plain and constant.
“He doesn’t flatter me with praise,” Anthony said. “He tells me the truth every day.
If I’m lacking on something, he’ll tell me to pick it up. And that’s why I appreciate it.”
In Other News...
Kiyan Anthony Opened Up About His Emotional Adrian Autry Goodbye
Syracuses frustrating 2025-26 season ended with a 15-17 record and six straight losses, and the final blow came in the ACC tournament against SMU. The next morning, the university moved on from Adrian Autry, closing out a tenure that had plenty of pressure attached to it long before the last game was over. For Kiyan Anthony, the change landed with the kind of emotion that usually follows a season spent around a coach every day, not just the kind of news cycle that follows a bad finish.
Anthony said he had a real relationship with Autry and spent the season getting a closer look at what the job demanded, even through the rough patches. He also addressed the benching at Virginia, saying Autry framed it as a basketball decision rather than a punishment, which gives a little more context to how the year unfolded behind the scenes. With Syracuse now heading into a new era, Anthonys perspective is one more reminder that the end of a coachs run is never only about wins and losses. [Read more 🡒]
Fran Browns Biggest Syracuse Fix Is About To Be Tested
Syracuse spent last season getting shoved around on defense, and the numbers told the story. Opponents averaged 5.27 yards per carry and 6.5 yards per play, a rough backdrop for a program trying to reset its identity, which is why Fran Brown and his staff spent the offseason reworking that side of the ball with several new faces on the defensive staff.
One of the most important additions is Vince Kehres, brought in from Toledo to help reshape the unit with an emphasis on effort, tackling and teamwork. His previous defense was far sturdier than Syracuses was a year ago, and now the real test is how much of that can carry over once the Orange start sorting out the details in camp, from the corners role in supporting the run to whether the pass rush can be rebuilt with help from the transfer market. [Read more 🡒]
Syracuse Adds Another Overseas Guard As Backcourt Questions Keep Growing
Syracuses backcourt continues to take shape with another overseas addition, as the womens basketball program has signed French point guard Claine Ricco for the upcoming season. Ricco arrives with a steady international rsum and is in the middle of representing France at the under-20 EuroBasket Tournament, where she has remained part of the national team pipeline after previous runs with Frances under-18 and under-19 squads.
For Syracuse, the move fits an offseason that has leaned heavily on players with international ties while the roster still has room to grow. The Orange currently list 13 players, and with SMU transfer Tyi Skinner expected to be the lead option at point guard, Ricco looks like another piece in a backcourt picture that is still coming into focus. [Read more 🡒]