Anthony improves NBA draft stock

To all of you who were cheering on coach Roy Williams and his University of Kansas squad this college basketball season, better luck next year. The Jayhawks made a valiant effort, but the senior leadership of point guard Kirk Hinrich and forward Nick Collison wasn't enough to give Williams his first NCAA crown.

In ESPN's Stuart Scott's words, I've got to give "Big Ups!" to coach Jim Boeheim and Syracuse University for proving many people wrong.

When the NCAA tournament field was selected almost a month ago, many analysts and fans had either Kansas, the University of Arizona or the University of Kentucky going back to their respected campuses as the king of the "Big Dance."

The Syracuse Orangemen, however, had a different idea. Syracuse boasted a very young roster with two starting freshmen and one senior, guard Kueth Duany. Syracuse was the No. 3 seed in the East and took a backseat in most people's mind.

I will admit, I had no idea the Orangemen were this good and had no idea forward Carmelo Anthony was as dominant as he is. I felt that with point guard T.J. Ford at the helm for the University of Texas, they would ride into the championship game and snag the trophy, leaving Willliams scratching his head.

Wow — was I wrong. I underestimated Boeheim's boys, as I'm sure most of you did as well. Every year there seems to be a surprise in the tournament. I wouldn't call Syracuse a "Cinderella story," but it was shocking to see how easily it jumped out against Kansas in the opening 10 minutes of Monday's national title game. Syracuse seemed to fly right under the radar of college hoops fans throughout the tournament until it reached the Elite Eight, clobbered Oklahoma University. It was then when I started to question my selections.

With the freshman duo of Anthony and guard Gerry McNamara shooting as if they were in their backyards, Kansas was doomed from the beginning. McNamara cooled off in the second half after scoring 18 points in the opening half on six three-pointers. McNamara's lack of aggressiveness in the second half didn't seem to bother Anthony, who had his own problem — a sore back from Saturday's win against the Longhorns.

Anthony played most of the second-half acting more as a decoy to free up open looks for his teammates. He was injured but still dominated enough of the game to post 20 points, 10 rebounds and seven assists on his way to being named the Final Four Most Outstanding Player.

Anthony is driving a bandwagon at the moment, and I'm hopping on it. He went crazy in the tournament, especially the last two games. To think that he is a year removed from his high school graduation and his dominance of Division I All-Americans is absurd.

The NBA draft is going to be here before we know it, and I think — actually, I know — that Anthony would be my pick if I was a general manager with the first choice in the lottery.

Don't get me wrong— high school phenom LeBron James is going to be an excellent NBA player, but he has been dropping his 30-point games on little kids. LeBron is a man compared to the 16 and 17-year-old boys he is matched against.

Anthony proved his critics wrong by attending Syracuse instead of going into the NBA draft. He destroyed teams in his high school days like James has been doing. But Anthony also has annihilated college basketball defenses this past month. Forget what he did in the regular season — he was named Freshman of the Year — but this guy should be player of the year. The entire tournament he out played everyone. Anthony carried Syracuse to an NCAA championship and made himself the brightest star in this year's draft, should he decide to leave school.

If Anthony stays for another year, I expect Syracuse to be back in the Final Four next season. Kansas, on the other hand, will start rebuilding. The cornerstone for the Jayhawks the last 15 years, Williams, will be recruited heavily to take over the University of North Carolina coaching job, while they also will graduate two great players in Hinrich and Collison. Sorry, Williams, for not getting the chance to celebrate a national championship once again this year. But if you go to UNC, there is plenty of talent in Chapel Hill to start yet another campaign for an NCAA championship.

Brad Richards is a junior SMAD major who thinks that Carmelo Anthony could be the guy to carry the NBA into its post-Jordan era.