Carmelo Anthony Has a Special Bond With Syracuse, Guarantees Victory
By William Lee
Former-Syracuse Orange and current New York Knicks superstar Carmelo Anthony, proudly proclaimed that Syracuse will beat the North Carolina Tar Heels Saturday night in the NCAA Final Four Tournament.
The odds are against Syracuse for an upset, with them entering the game as a nine-point underdog. Nonetheless Anthony is confident the Orange can pull it off, as per Marc Berman of the New York Post.
"“We’re going to beat them,’’“Guarantee? Yeah. We’re the underdogs for sure. You can’t just win off momentum. You got to go out and play the game. It’s not going to be a walk in the park, but I feel we’re going to get them. I have a feeling.’’"
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Anthony has a very special bond with Syracuse, averaging 22.2 points and 10 rebounds per game as a one-and-done player, en route to an NCAA Championship in 2003. Anthony was named the NCAA Final Four Most Outstanding Player during the run, and also took home the honors of USBWA National Freshman of the Year and consensus second-team All-American that season.
Not only did Anthony contribute to Syracuse’s lone Championship in school history, but Melo also helped contribute to a new Syracuse University practice facility.
"“I feel like I’ve done a lot for that town, not just for the school but for the town,”“They’ve done a lot for me. So for me to go there as an 18-year old kid and for that whole University, just that whole town to embrace me the way they did, I feel that it was only right for me to kind of give back to them.”"
And give back he did! Donating $3 million to help kick-start the project. Fittingly the practice facility was named the Carmelo K. Anthony Basketball Center.
Anthony says that he has a special connection to Syracuse, one that can never be broken.
"“I talk to the guys, I talk to the coach, talk [Jim] Boeheim. I’m embedded with them guys. This is not just me being a fan of Syracuse, it’s like I’m connected with them,”“It’s just something that will never be broke, a bond that will never be broken. You know it’s crazy to have a bond with a school or university or town like Syracuse when growing up that wasn’t your even your dream school or dream place to be.”"
On Easter Sunday, Anthony showed off his colors on social media. Repping Syracuse fashionably prior to the Orange’s match-up with Virginia in the Elite Eight.
Syracuse defeated Virginia 68-62, overcoming a huge deficit as freshmen Malachi Richardson took over in the second half. Richardson finished the game with 23 points and 7 rebounds.
Anthony was overjoyed by the comeback victory and expressed his excitement on Snapchat.
Next: Carmelo Anthony Backs Jerian Grant
The Final Four match-up between Syracuse and North Carolina will take place at 8:49 PM on TBS. Let’s see if Anthony was right about his prediction.