Syracuse basketball has plunged to new depths, says the man who lifted it to the top of the mountain.
Program legend Carmelo Anthony emphasized his dissatisfaction with the Orange during Monday’s 87-77 loss to North Carolina in Chapel Hill, their fifth loss in six games.
The Hall of Fame forward — who led Syracuse to the 2003 national title in his only season of college basketball — needed all of four letters to sum up his current feelings toward his alma mater.
His son, Kiyan, is a freshman on the roster.
“SMFH,” Anthony commented under an in-game highlight, posted to the team’s official Instagram account during the first half when Syracuse fell behind, 46-32.
The Orange have slipped to 13-10 overall with a 4–6 record in the ACC, sitting at 16th place in the 18-team pool.
Syracuse ranks in the conference’s bottom five in points (14th), 3-pointers (16th), assists (14th) and rebounds (15th).
The program is also 363rd out of 365 Division I squads in free-throw percentage, knocking down just 63.3 percent of its “gimmes.”
While it’s a brutal display of basketball for the Orange faithful at large, it seems particularly hard to stomach for one of the team’s all-time greats — one who has remained deeply involved with the program.
Anthony, a longstanding fixture at Syracuse home games, donated millions of dollars to build the Carmelo K. Anthony Basketball Center, a state-of-the-art practice facility for the men’s and women’s teams.
He’s also the parent of one of the team’s top recruits.
Kiyan, who committed to Syracuse in 2024, arrived with promise but has had an inconsistent run in his freshman season under head coach Adrian Autry.
The 6-foot-5 guard tallied just 10 points on 3-for-10 shooting across 16 minutes of work Monday night.
Following the loss, Autry declared that the team must turn things around before it’s too late, with matchups against No. 18 Virginia, No. 4 Duke, No. 14 North Carolina and No. 24 Louisville looming ahead.
“On both sides, we have to get better and more consistent,” said the third-year skipper, who previously served as the assistant coach under Jim Boeheim.
“That’s what we have to do. For us to go where we want to go, this is part of the season, this is part of the journey. It’s more games to be played. I like this group. We just have to be more consistent in what we’re trying to do.”
Syracuse takes on Virginia in Charlottesville on Feb. 7.