Syracuse receives $3 Million from Carmelo Anthony for basketball practice facility

Carmelo Anthony has agreed to donate $3,000,000 to Syracuse University to build a new basketball practice facility.

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Nuggets F Carmelo Anthony, who helped lead Syracuse Univ. (SU) to the ’03 NCAA men’s basketball championship, has committed a $3M gift to the construction of a basketball practice facility at the school. Anthony’s gift is one of the largest donations to SU athletics and is thought to be one of the largest by a current pro athlete to the college they attended. The new facility would be located in the Lampe Athletic Complex at SU and would contain two practice courts, locker rooms and office facilities (SU).

In Denver, Aaron Lopez reports the donation represents 20-25% of the estimated $12-15M cost of the project. The building “will carry Anthony’s name and could open as soon as 2008.” Lopez writes SU coach Jim Boeheim approached Anthony about the idea while both were with the U.S. national team at the FIBA World Championships this summer, “just weeks after Anthony signed a five-year, $79[M] contract extension.” Boeheim: “I wanted one name on (the new building). The name to me is special because of the national championship and the person who helped us win it. He was only here one year, but it feels like more.” Lopez notes former NBAer Steve Smith donated $2.5M to Michigan State Univ. in ’97 to fund the Clara Bell Smith Student-Athlete Academic Center (ROCKY MOUNTAIN NEWS, 11/8).