NORTH AUGUSTA, S.C. — Twenty-three years later, the main characters are still in the high school hoops scene — only now, Carmelo Anthony is a retired NBA superstar and has traded bucket-getting for bucket-guiding. Meanwhile, legendary Oak Hill Academy (Mouth of Wilson, Va.) coach Steve Smith is the picture of tranquility, parked courtside with his legs crossed and arms folded, watching the Warriors duke it out against Long Island Lutheran (Brookeville, N.Y.) in the opening round of the Nike EYBL Scholastic conference tournament.
“It’s a little different now,” said Smith, who now serves as assistant commissioner of the EYBL Scholastic. “But, for me, it’s a good different. Less stress these days.”
Back in 2002, Anthony bled red and gold, leading Oak Hill to a 32-1 record while averaging 21.7 points and 7.4 rebounds a game.
On Wednesday, the marching orders for his son, Kiyan, the star guard for Long Island Lutheran, were as simple as they were direct.
“He said, ‘you’re playing Oak Hill today so you gotta get to it,'” said Kiyan, who checks in at No. 32 overall in the ESPN 100 Class of 2025 rankings..
Kiyan made good on the not-so-subtle nudging, leading all scorers with 25 points in the Crusaders’ 71-61 win as a row full of NBA scouts looked on.
The game was the second meeting between the two this season. Long Island Lutheran rolled the Warriors, 76-41, in the first meeting 19 days prior.
“I just love the game, so I’m always locked in and competing at the highest level is fun to me,” Kiyan said. “But, yeah, it’s definitely cool to be able to play against my dad’s old school and get the win.”
Carmelo was animated during the Crusaders second half run, hopping out of his chair to cheer on big shots and reeling off pointers from his corner courtside seat.
“Coaching Melo and now seeing his son at the same point have similar success is pretty cool to say the least,” Smith said. “They have similarities; they can both shoot it from anywhere consistently and they both have amazing footwork. I can see that his work ethic is like his dad too. Guys like him usually make it.”
In November, Kiyan opted to follow Carmelo’s footsteps, picking Syracuse over USC.
He nearly made a similar move a few years back when he was mulling options heading into high school.
“I was really considering Oak Hill,” Kiyan said. “We were looking at it, but my dad wanted me to stay home with me being younger, but, yeah, Oak Hill was a real option back then.”
When told about the connection that could’ve been, Smith, who retired in 2022, laughed and widened his eyes, no doubt thinking about potentially adding to his massive win total of 1,232 and nine national titles.
“Wow, I don’t remember talking to Melo about that,” Smith said. “I’ll tell you what, I would’ve taken him!”
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