Carmelo Anthony Wanted To Return to Syracuse After Winning the National Championship in 2003, but Jim Boeheim Told Him To “Get His Ass off the Campus”
On today's Pardon My Take... CARMELO ANTHONY! The future Hall of Famer joined Mr. Cat and Mr. Commenter today to discuss his new memoir, "Where Tomorrows Aren't Promised," the highlights of his NBA career, his time with the Knicks, Big Cat's Bulls recruitment in 2014, the banana boat crew, and much more.
The guys also got into it regarding Carmelo's time with Syracuse. He is the greatest basketball player to ever play for the Orange (the practice facility up in Syracuse is even called the Melo Center), and brought Jim Boeheim and the program its first National Championship. But after winning it all in 2003, Carmelo Anthony actually wanted to return to Syracuse for his sophomore year instead of entering the NBA Draft. However, Jim Boeheim had something to say about that. Take a look:
Mr. Cat: You had, basically, the perfect college career in that you went for one year, you won the first national title for Syracuse, Jim Boeheim, everything that's perfect, best player in the country. I remember reading at the time, and I've seen stories about it, that you actually wanted to stay. And Jim Boeheim was like, "No, you're not staying." Was that real? Was that real that you actually wanted to stay?
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Carmelo Anthony: That's a fact. Boeheim told me to get my ass off the campus, he don't want to see me no more, I better not be back on campus. But I was explaining this to somebody on the way here, I wanted to go back because at the time we started to win, that March, April, you know, we won a championship, to go back on campus, I was just starting to get my feet wet on campus. You know, the weather was changing. First of all, it's 20 inches of snow every day in Syracuse. So, the weather started to change. That's when the school started to blossom. You're seeing people, the bars are open, you know, the quad is popping, the student center is popping. So, I started to be a student again.
Mr. Cat: Big Man on Campus.
Carmelo Anthony: Big Man on Campus. A student, not a basketball player. So, I started to experience it from the regular student's perspective. So, I started going to frat parties and shit. I started hanging with regular students, I was just enjoying myself.
Mr. Commenter: Yeah, I mean, I could see why you would want to go back, especially after a run like that. And you're right, like, Upstate New York in the spring, in the summer, it's nice. And it makes. you forget about what it's going to be like, because you would have gone back...
Carmelo Anthony: And I would have regretted it, I would have been sick!
Mr. Commenter: ... You would have been so pissed off and you would have seen where you would have gone in the draft, and you would just be looking at your bank account, like...
Carmelo: Yeah, I would have been sick.
Mr. Commenter: "What am I doing? I should have listened to Coach."
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I know the Syracuse fan base would have signed up for another season of Carmelo Anthony in a heartbeat. But he was simply too good of a basketball player to not head to the NBA after winning it all in 2003. The best player to ever do it in a Syracuse uniform. A Central New York legend.