A version of Carmelo Anthony that most casual basketball fans never really consider is the skinny, still-developing teenage boy who commuted to Towson Catholic High School in Baltimore and averaged a respectable 14 points and five rebounds as a sophomore while receiving virtually no attention from the outside world. Pro scouts gave him a quick glance before continuing. They said it was too thin. Not prepared for the NBA’s physical demands. In retrospect, it almost seems humorous.
Then came the summer of 1999. Anthony’s growth was five inches. Everything began to change when he suddenly became a 6-foot-5 swingman. By his junior year at Towson Catholic, he was leading the team to a 26-3 record with 23 points and 10.3 rebounds per game, garnering the kind of attention that can alter the course of a young athlete’s career. County Player of the Year for Baltimore. Player of the Year for the entire metropolitan area. Player of the Year for the Baltimore Catholic League. For someone who was still in high school, the hardware was piling up quickly.
But it’s difficult to succeed at that age. Before you know how to deal with it, the spotlight has a way of taking your attention away. Anthony got distracted — multiple suspensions for skipping classes, grades slipping below acceptable standards, ACT scores that didn’t come close to meeting Syracuse University’s academic requirements. This child was obviously capable of playing basketball at a high level, but there was genuine uncertainty about his future. His mother thought about transferring him to a different school.
One of the nation’s most illustrious high school basketball programs, Oak Hill Academy in rural Virginia, is where he eventually transferred for his senior year. It’s the type of place that doesn’t play around. Kevin Durant passed through those corridors. Brandon Jennings and Rajon Rondo also did. With a 42-game winning streak and expectations of national relevance, Oak Hill went into the 2001–02 season. Anthony was a perfect fit.
What transpired was a high school basketball season masquerading as something akin to a coming-out party. Throughout a 32-1 season, Anthony averaged 21.7 points, 8.1 rebounds, and 4 assists as Oak Hill won tournament after tournament. However, the game against Akron, Ohio’s St. Vincent–St. Mary High School is the one that people still recall, the one that seemed like a sneak peek at something greater. In a 72-66 Oak Hill victory over a young LeBron James, who is already being talked about as a generational talent, Anthony scored 34 points and pulled down 11 rebounds. James received a score of 36. It was precisely the type of high school game that is uncommon in high school.
Everything was still clouded by the ACT score situation. There was real concern among his friends, family, and neighbors in Baltimore that Anthony might skip college entirely and go straight to the NBA, as Kobe Bryant and Kevin Garnett had done years before. He was still below the minimum score of 18 needed to be eligible for the NCAA. He then received a 19 in late April. Only just barely. It was sufficient. He made a Syracuse commitment.
One college season. a national title. MVP of the tournament. After that, he was selected third overall by Denver in the 2003 NBA Draft, and in just one year, he helped transform a 17-win team into a postseason contender. The Olympic gold medals, the 62-point victory at Madison Square Garden, the Hall of Fame induction in 2025, and the All-Star selections all came later.
Looking back on those high school years, it’s amazing how nearly everything went awry. Anthony might never play for Jim Boeheim, win that championship at Syracuse, or be selected third in one of the deepest drafts in NBA history if he receives a few poor ACT scores. The world’s perception of Carmelo Anthony seems to have been influenced by those turbulent years in Baltimore as much as by anything that transpired in a professional setting. The summer AAU competitions, the Oak Hill transfer, and the academic eligibility near-miss were not insignificant events. They served as the basis.
Anthony has now returned to Oak Hill Academy as Co-General Manager of basketball operations in a seemingly staged full-circle moment. Kiyan, his son, is taking a nearly identical route to Syracuse. It turns out that some stories are only beginning.
