Carmelo Anthony’s Syracuse Basketball Center Opens

Last week, after years of construction, the Carmelo K. Anthony basketball center officially opened its doors to the Syracuse men’s and women’s basketball teams. “I would never in a million years think I would be sitting here today six or seven years after winning a national championship, doing the ribbon cutting for my building,” said Melo…

Melo’s 54,000 square foot Center – located adjacent to Manley Field House and smack dab in the middle of my libido- includes: two practice courts, a strength and conditioning room, an athletic training suite, locker room facilities and offices for both the men’s and women’s coaching staffs…but the best thing about it (aside from the name of course) is that fact that it’s a LEED building. (The Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Green Building Rating System, developed by the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC), provides a suite of standards for environmentally sustainable construction.) Melo’s building is designed to use 30% less water than a typical new building…it’s designed to use almost 20% less energy than a typical new building…more than half of the construction and demolition waste was recycled or reused…approximately 20% of the materials used in the building are made from recycled materials.

“We ask our student-athletes to be champions on and off the field, that is one of our missions here and it’s very important, Carmelo Anthony epitomizes that,” said Dr. Daryl Gross, Director of Athletics, “When you think about Carmelo being a gold medalist, Final Four Most Outstanding Player, national champion, and then what he does outside of basketball. He gives back to the community and donates his time, then as one of the few student-athletes in the country to make such a significant donation, to give back to his alma mater, that is outstanding, it’s wonderful and Carmelo we thank you.”

And for those who are unaware, precious Melo kicked in $3 million toward the construction of the facility. “I’ve been ready to cut this ribbon for about two years now,” said Melo, “I want to thank the Syracuse community for allowing me to come back here to my second home, I take great pride in this city. I want to thank the men’s basketball team and the women’s basketball team, Coach Boeheim and I were saying hopefully we can be in the top five recruiting class for both programs next year. Once again I just want to say thank you, I’m proud to be opening this building with my name on there and when I’m dead and gone this building will be here for generations after. Thank you, and let’s cut this ribbon.” A full transcript of the speech can be found HERE.

As always, thanks for reading. Delinda@athlebrities.com