On his first day of classes at Syracuse University, Carmelo Anthony sat anonymously in his freshman forum course. He tucked his trademark cornrows beneath an NFL hat, which matched his replica NFL jersey, and blended in with his classmates. Well, until roll call, anyway.

When the professor called out, "Carmelo Anthony," a din of excitement shot through the room. Heads swiveled toward him when he answered, "Here."

	A high-flier on the court, Carmelo Anthony seems to have his feet on the ground despite high expectations at Syracuse.

After class ended, a procession line formed to get Anthony's autograph.

Oh well. So much for blending in.

"It's a little weird," says Anthony, 18, the nation's No. 1 college-bound recruit, "seeing people my own age look up to me. It's definitely weird."

Just that simple answer -- "Here" -- endeared Carmelo Anthony to a city and university that treats its basketball stars likely royalty. Last spring, on his last chance, Anthony avoided declaring for the NBA Draft by qualifying on the ACT. That sent him to Syracuse instead of somewhere in the middle of the NBA's first round.

While in upstate New York, he'll sit on the basketball throne once manned by Dave Bing, Derrick Coleman and Billy Owens. While the length of Anthony's reign on The Hill remains uncertain, expect his Sylvania smile and old-school game to brighten up Syracuse's notoriously dreary winters.

Anthony's background isn't that of a typical AAU prodigy who's sucked on a basketball silver spoon since junior high. Instead, he's a late bloomer who sees college as a place to mature, not a necessary pit stop on the way to the NBA's ATM.

"He was smart enough to say, 'I'm a pretty young kid here, I need to go to college,' " says Syracuse head coach Jim Boehiem. "Not necessarily from a basketball perspective. He wanted to go to college, and he likes it."

Eric Skeeters, who Anthony calls his Godfather, laughs when he hears the talk linking Anthony to the NBA.

Skeeters remembers Anthony long before he outplayed everyone on the floor in the McDonald's All-American game, or recruiting analysts pegged him as the next Tracy McGrady. A time when Oak Hill coach Steve Smith's forecast of Anthony having more long-term potential than Ron Mercer and Jerry Stackhouse would have seemed downright laughable.

Way back in 1993, Skeeters remembers Anthony as a ball boy at St. Frances Academy in Baltimore. Anthony's cousin, Tavares Graham, played for St. Frances and Anthony tagged along with him to practice.

Skeeters, an assistant coach, took to Anthony, a prankster with gangly arms and a perma-grin. Skeeters made Anthony the ball boy and let him ride the team bus on road trips. When Skeeters later ran Anthony through individual workouts after practice, never did he envision the awkward junior high kid evolving into an elite basketball player.

Skeeters tells the story of his wife stumbling upon a web site about two years ago that linked Anthony to North Carolina, Maryland and Syracuse.

"Little Carmelo?" Marie Skeeters asked her husband. "He scored like eight points in the JV game we saw him play."

As a ninth grader, while most of his elite basketball peers popped up on Top 25 recruiting lists, Anthony struggled for burn on a one-win Towson Catholic JV team. Academic issues and painful growth spurts stunted his development. The summer after his ninth grade year, Anthony went to Five-Star camp, where his personal highlight came from stealing the ball from former LaSalle star Rasual Butler, now a Miami Heat reserve.

"That was a big deal for him," says Skeeters, now an assistant at Youngstown State. "He talked about it all day. It's crazy to think about how far he's come. Two summers later, they're talking about him skipping college."

The crackle of the intercom at Oak Hill Academy last April ended all that talk. Lisa Smith, the wife of the Warriors' head coach, paged Anthony from his third period geography class to deliver the good news about his ACT.

Anthony stood speechless, overwhelmed by the news. He called his mother, a custodial worker at the University of Baltimore, who cried when she heard he got a qualifying score.

Mary Anthony, a devout woman with religious items adorning the walls of her home, isn't really interested in her son going to the NBA. She raised Anthony on Myrtle Avenue in Baltimore, adjacent to the hardscrabble Murphy Homes housing project. But with the help of mentors like Skeeters and a host of dedicated youth coaches, Anthony avoided the temptations of the neighborhood, which he nicknamed "The Pharmacy" because of the glut of drugs.

Though NBA millions appear a "when, not if" proposition, Mary Anthony wants her son to graduate from Syracuse. Anthony says that staying for four years is highly unlikely, but he relishes the opportunity at an education. While he's hesitant to set a specific NBA timetable, Anthony says that he's gone 18 years without driving an Escalade, so why not wait a few more.

"He and his mom dreamed for him to go to college," says SU assistant coach Troy Weaver, who recruited Anthony to Syracuse. "He's a typical 18-year old. He's not in a rush to have a fast life or anything like that. He doesn't need big cars. This has been very good for him."

When Anthony came to Syracuse on his recruiting visit during the spring of his junior year, he walked into the Carrier Dome and his jaw dropped. He gazed around the voluminous arena and envisioned the silver pews filled with orange-clad zealots, chanting his name.

It was a "You had me at hello" courtship. Anthony committed to Boeheim before he left, never seriously considering another school.

Anthony's presence punctuates a three-year recruiting stretch that will pack the Dome with the most talent since the halcyon days of Coleman, Sherm Douglas and Owens. And while 30,000 don't show up anymore for Canisius, Anthony's buzz has already raised student season ticket sales by over 500.

He hasn't disappointed so far, either. Anthony scored 37 in the Orangemen's season-opening exhibition, shooting 14-of-22 from the field. Living up to Weaver's comparison of a "taller Paul Pierce," Anthony hit three 3-pointers, scored in transition and also flashed effective post moves.

"Carmelo," says SU senior Kueth Duany, "is as good as advertised. He can score and is an underrated passer. He can handle and shoot the jumper. He can do it all."

Though Anthony will likely lead the Orangemen in scoring, he won't have to do it alone. Preston Shumpert (20.7 ppg.) exhausted his eligibility and DeShaun Williams' (15.9 ppg.) dismissal leaves a giant scoring void. Boeheim, though, is confident that Duany (12.2 ppg), who honed his jumper over the summer, can fill it more consistently this season.

Boeheim will also lean on sophomore returning starters Hakim Warrick, a dynamic 6-foot-9 leaper, and Craig Forth, a cerebral 7-foot post player, for scoring. Warrick starred on a college all-star trip to Turkey and Italy this summer, and Forth polished his post moves at Pete Newell camp.

There's little doubt, though, that Anthony will draw a majority of the defensive attention and be called upon to score in the clutch. Don't expect him to be overwhelmed, either. There's no telling how long Anthony will be around, but he's going to enjoy every last autograph.

"I don't feel any pressure," says Anthony. "Pressure bursts pipes. People say because I'm a freshman I'm new to this, but I'm true to this."

Pete Thamel is a frequent contributor to ESPN Magazine and ESPN.com. He's based in Bartlesville, Okla., where he's writing a book about NAIA basketball. His e-mail is vpthamel@yahoo.com