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Donnie Freeman had two questions for Kiyan Anthony before his first start.

Yo, you excited? How you feeling?

Freeman said Anthony responded that he was excited. Freeman wasn’t even sure whether or not his freshman teammate would start this early into his college career.

Once he started the second half of Syracuse’s season-opener versus Binghamton after J.J. Starling suffered a lower-body injury (and head coach Adrian Autry didn’t give a timetable for Starling’s return), Anthony said he began to prepare himself for this moment.

And once the moment arrived, Anthony — the 32nd-best recruit in his class, per 247Sports — thrived, scoring 19 points on 8-of-11 shooting while adding four assists. Meanwhile, Freeman, arguably SU’s best recruit since Anthony’s father, Carmelo, added 20 points on 6-of-8 shooting with four assists.

The pair combined to nearly outscore Delaware State (0-2, Mid-Eastern Conference) themselves, as Syracuse (2-0, Atlantic Coast) won 83-43 in blowout fashion.

“Those guys are elite, that’s no secret,” SU center William Kyle III said postgame about Freeman and Anthony.

Before hearing his name called with the Orange’s starting five, Anthony said he was in the gym last night until around 9 p.m. Thirteen hours later, he was in the JMA Wireless Dome ahead of Syracuse’s 1 p.m. tip-off against Delaware State.

Earlier on Saturday, Autry informed Anthony that he would be starting, also telling him who he was guarding and what to look for. After getting in his pregame workout and taking a nap in SU’s locker room, Anthony said he was ready.

Instantly, he contributed, dishing an assist to Freeman, who nailed a 3-pointer from the top of the key to score the game’s first points. Three minutes later, Anthony skidded through the lane in transition before converting on his first two points at the rim to extend Syracuse’s lead to 8-2.

A couple of possessions later, Anthony had the ball in transition. He set up Freeman for an easy deuce by making an extra pass as opposed to attempting an acrobatic shot at the rim.

In a half-court set on SU’s next trip down the floor, Anthony received the ball on a dribble handoff from Sadiq White Jr. Anthony beat his initial defender using a quick first step before gliding by White’s defender, who switched on to him, and scored an easy layup. It pushed the Orange’s advantage to 12-4.

Postgame, Autry credited Anthony for setting the tone by getting to the basket and making some plays. Soon after Anthony helped set the tone, Freeman started blowing the game open.

SU’s lead buoyed from 17-9 to 27-9 after Freeman scored seven points and assisted the other three as part of a 10-0 run. The 6-foot-9 forward’s seven points were the product of him attacking the rim in transition, including an and-1, while he assisted Bryce Zephir on a corner 3.

“I didn’t force anything. I just kind of made it easy on myself,” said Freeman, who also shot 7-of-10 on free throws.

Following Freeman’s run, Anthony embarked on one of his own to help position the Orange’s 40-17 halftime lead. The guard scored Syracuse’s next eight points, including one of his two 3-point makes, before setting up a Tyler Betsey 3. It helped SU grow its advantage to 18 points.

Autry emphasized postgame that Anthony isn’t just a three-level scorer, as Anthony often says he is, but that the freshman is a “really good” basketball player.

Following his collegiate debut, Autry praised Anthony’s defense. On Saturday, he highlighted his playmaking and passing; the freshman’s four assists tied with Freeman and Kyle for the most on SU, while he never turned the ball over.

Before Syracuse built its lead up to as much as 43 late in the second half, Anthony kick-started its offense out of halftime by getting to the rim for a transition layup off a feed from Freeman. Anthony and Freeman’s eight combined assists accounted for almost half of SU’s 19 total assists.

As the Orange cruised to their largest win since defeating Division II Chaminade by 49 in 2023, Freeman and Anthony continued chipping away on the scoreboard. Freeman finished three games with 20 or more points as a freshman — with his campaign being cut short with a season-ending injury after 14 games. He’s already notched two 20-point games in as many contests as a sophomore, where he’s the program’s only returnee alongside Starling, a Preseason All-ACC Second Team Selection.

With the size and skill set that NBA teams laud, Freeman’s production in the early going should put him on draft boards. Without Freeman’s season-ending injury last year, his mother, Darshelle, told The Daily Orange in October that jumping to the NBA would’ve been “a more serious conversation.”

For Anthony, his last name is synonymous with the NBA. After leading Syracuse to its lone national championship in 2003, Carmelo played 19 seasons in the league and finished with the 10th-most points in NBA history. He was inducted into the Hall of Fame in September.

Anthony’s expectations were never to be like his father, as he’s focused on building his own legacy. Before the season, he said he expected to play one or two years of college basketball before jumping to the NBA. Albeit a small sample size through two games, as he also scored 15 points in his collegiate debut, Anthony has looked the part of a one-and-done prospect thus far.

“They’re NBA guys, they know where they belong,” freshman guard Luke Fennell said of Freeman and Anthony.

But before any decision needs to be made about advancing to the next level, Syracuse needs Freeman and Anthony to play like they did on Saturday throughout the season.

If they play to the NBA-level they did on Saturday come March, the Orange’s four-year NCAA Tournament spell should be snapped, and Autry should have plenty more time to continue to help restore the “Orange Standard.”

Published on November 8, 2025 at 7:00 pm
Contact Justin: justingirshon@gmail.com | @JustinGirshon