Kiyan Anthony, son of Carmelo, transferring to Long Island Lutheran
Kiyan Anthony #11 plays against Bronny James #0 at the Sierra Canyon vs Christ The King boys basketball game at Sierra Canyon High School on December 12, 2022 in Chatsworth, California. Credit: Getty Images/Cassy Athena
Kiyan Anthony, regarded as one of the nation’s top high school sophomore basketball players and the son of former NBA great Carmelo Anthony, has decided to enroll at Long Island Lutheran. His first day at his new school will be Monday.
Anthony, who lives in New York City and has been attending Christ The King in Queens, announced that he is transferring in a Twitter post from his account Sunday. The post simply reads “I will be transferring to @LuHiBasketball” and features a poster-type image of Anthony donning a No. 11 LuHi jersey.
Anthony’s transfer is too late in the season for him to be eligible to play right away. He has two years of high school eligibility remaining and will join the 2023-24 Crusaders as a junior. He currently stands 6-5 but still could be growing. His father — who starred for the Knicks for seven seasons through 2017 — stands 6-7.
“He is a very good shooter and quite a skilled player,” Long Island Lutheran coach John Buck said Sunday afternoon. “He has a solid understanding of the game, which surprises no one.’’
Asked what position Anthony plays, Buck said, “We think he might be a multidimensional player who could appear at a bunch of different positions.”
Anthony is regarded as one of the 50 best college recruits in his class, according to websites that do such rankings. He reportedly already has a scholarship offer from Syracuse, where his father played one season and helped the Orange capture the 2003 national championship.
Buck said two of his current players, UConn commit Jayden Ross and Jacob Ross, play summer travel basketball with Anthony for the program Team Melo. “He knows them, but he knows a bunch of our players through the summer circuit,” Buck said. “It won’t be all new faces for him.”
LuHi, 14-2 and ranked anywhere from No. 4 to No. 12 nationally by outlets that do such rankings, has emerged as an appealing destination nationally for top high school players. This season it joined the National Interscholastic Basketball Conference, a league with 10 prominent basketball programs from all corners of the United States. It plays dates in Florida, Arizona, Indiana and South Carolina among others.
Roger Rubin returned to Newsday in 2018 to write about high schools, colleges and baseball following 20 years at the Daily News. A Baseball Hall of Fame voter since 2011, he has covered 13 MLB postseasons and 14 NCAA Final Fours.
