If Carmelo Anthony has any leaning toward theatrics — and all observations thus far would indicate he does — then he should leave Syracuse for the NBA. He should leave this year. Heck, he should leave today.

His story now revered, his legend now enshrined, Carmelo should know: It’s time to close the curtain on his SU career.

At just 18, Carmelo, by galvanizing both a team and a city, has already clinched wunderkind status. In the course of one year — a freshman year at that — the 6-foot-8 forward led the Orangemen to their first NCAA championship. He sat in David Letterman’s Green Room and performed bell-ringing duties at the New York Stock Exchange. With a near-messianic performance in the Final Four, Carmelo awed experts into whispering that, perhaps, he might be the most complete freshman to pass through college in a generation.

Rarely does the unscripted sports world lead us to such a perfect ending, one that is, at once, both brief and unforgettable. Yet that’s what Carmelo gave us. He’d be foolish to return for his sophomore year and make any effort to amend what he’s already accomplished. It’s like editing Salinger. If it can’t be improved, leave it alone.

To this point, Carmelo’s led us to believe he can improve on anything, and that’s largely because fans have yet to see him fall short of any task he’s wished to accomplish. When he arrived at Syracuse last summer, Carmelo wanted, in no particular order, success, attention and a good time. He got all of those things.

As a player, he proved indefensible — even against Texas stopper Royal Ivey, Carmelo cruised for 33 points. As a personality, he proved a world-class charmer of both the media and the fans.

But the truth is, Carmelo can’t keep up his pace of perfection. Nobody can. Given enough time, Murphy’s Law picks on everybody, and by staying another year, Carmelo is simply testing the fates.

Next year, Carmelo could lead the nation in scoring and escort SU to a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament, but if Syracuse loses in, say, the Sweet 16, the season is still a grand disappointment.

Perhaps more than any other sport, men’s college basketball leans on luck. This regular season, Kentucky and Arizona ranked, indisputably, as the nation’s top teams. Neither made the Final Four. Even with Carmelo, the odds of Syracuse repeating are slim, and a title re-run is what it would take for Carmelo to keep pace with the expectations he set this season.

Of course, this is more than a purely romantic argument, because any observer knows that Carmelo’s life isn’t meant as poetry. He shouldn’t base life decisions purely on what makes for the best story. There are other reasons, though, that he should depart. Many others.

Carmelo’s always professed to enjoy attention, and, by all accounts, he did that this year. During SU’s run to New Orleans, Carmelo basked in the media spotlight, his ever-present smile seemingly on the cover of every sports section in the country. Nonetheless, he should understand that a week of media praise can’t possibly compare with a season of media scrutiny.

Should Carmelo return, he’ll roast under a microscope larger than anything experienced before by a Syracuse athlete. Yeah, being on the cover of Sports Illustrated’s preseason basketball issue would be nice. But what about when the New York Daily Stalker decides to dispatch a reporter to South Campus and log his comings and goings?

Carmelo should spare himself. Sure, in the NBA, he’ll garner some media attention. More likely, the throngs will flock to LeBron James.

Some implore him to stick it out for one more year at SU because, if he does, it’s a mere formality that he’ll be the No. 1 pick in the 2004 NBA Draft. This year, after high-schooler James and European Darko Milicic, Carmelo’s the likely No. 3 pick.

Who really cares? Michael Jordan was a No. 3 pick. So was Kevin McHale. So was Dominique Wilkins. Carmelo would still be getting millions, and sooner rather than later.

Perhaps it doesn’t matter when Carmelo makes his money — that is, of course, barring injury. It happened to Miami’s star running back Willis McGahee, who was a lock to be a top-5 pick in the NFL Draft until he tore three knee ligaments during the last game of his sophomore season. Just give Murphy’s Law enough time, and suddenly, pro contracts become insurance statements.

Why test it? In a remarkably brief time, Carmelo’s already accomplished everything he set out to do. There’s no need to one-up his status as a local, if not a national, legend.

A well-regarded maxim states that the best memories are often lessons in brevity. Should Carmelo return for a second season at Syracuse — regardless of what happens — he’ll always be remembered. The memory just might not be as good.

Chico Harlan is a staff writer at The Daily Orange, where his columns appear regularly. E-mail him at apharlan@syr.edu.

Published on April 15, 2003 at 12:00 pm