Kiyan Anthony draws attention and other takeaways from Syracuse Media Day

Syracuse Men’s Basketball held their media day today at the Carmelo K. Anthony Basketball Center. Every player and coach was available to talk to the press. Their season starts next Saturday the 25th in an exhibition against Buffalo at 7pm in Buffalo.

Here are three takeaways from what the players had to say.

Kiyan Anthony was at the center of the session

Let’s get the big one out of the way first. Kiyan Anthony was the most spoken-to player at media day. No surprise, as he took questions in a building named after his father.

“It’s super surreal coming in everyday seeing my dad name… definitely motivates me to work harder everyday,” Anthony said. “(Carmelo) set the platform, I just got to follow it.”

He looked much bigger than he did in high school and he estimated he had put on 20 pounds since entering college. Anthony said his work in the weight room has been the biggest change since arriving at school.

“Coming into college that was one of the focus points from the coaches and the organization," Anthony said.

Autry was hesitant to place expectations on Anthony given his freshman-status. Anthony said he plays on the same team with Sadiq White in practice often which could indicate Autry trusts him to play heavy minutes. He projects to be a three-level scorer, something Syracuse didn’t have last year. His abiilty to shoot will be crucial as Syracuse finished in the bottom half of 3-point percentage in the ACC.

Starling and Freeman set the tone

JJ Starling and Donnie Freeman are the only two contributors from last year’s team still on the roster. Autry said they were key in recruiting transfers to Syracuse.

“It was a lot of collaboration (with the staff),” Starling said. “(I) know a lot of players around the country so reaching out to them and relaying them to the coaching staff.”

Freeman only played 14 games last year after an injury to his foot. He said he was still able to grow through watching from the bench and watching film with the coaching staff. He’s been quickly trusted into a leadership role.

Many of the transfer players cited the opportunity to play with Starling and Freeman as reasons they came to Syracuse. Autry also talked about how much their commitment to his program meant. Even though Starling and Freeman have only shared the court a handful of times, their connection has been one of the most important parts about Syracuse’s offseason.

Don’t sleep on Luke Fennell

While Nait George was the major win for Syracuse in the transfer portal, his backup Luke Fennell is another exciting pickup from the Orange. At 6'6", he’s a tall point guard who can facilitate and shoot from range. He played professionally in Australia and was on Australia’s 2025 FIBA U19 Men’s Basketball World Cup team.

“I’m a good point guard who can control the tempo and get the ball into good player’s hands," Fennell said. "I bring a bit of grit to the team and some swagger."

In Autry’s first two years, the starting guards have had to shoulder a heavy load with little margin for error or injury like we saw last year. The hope is that Fennell can provide solid minutes and ease the burden on George.

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