Carmelo Anthony on the transfer portal: 'There's no more university pride'

The transfer portal still has its downsides to some as a modern concept in college athletics. For Carmelo Anthony, though, its biggest takeaway is that it eliminates some of the honor of representing a school that’s across your chest.

Anthony recently shared his take on the portal on his podcast titled ‘7PM In Brooklyn’. He did so in a conversation with his co-host, The Kid Mero, and a guest in Bomani Jones. To him, being able to transfer whenever removes a lot of gratification that comes with playing for a program.

“There’s no more university pride, like, with the athlete,” said Anthony. “That’s the part that I don’t like.”

This is specifically his point when it comes to freshman, or at least young players, deciding to hit the portal. Those underclassmen may not be certain of what they want yet and don’t know what opportunities they may have as their career continues at their given program. That’s why, in ‘Melo’s opinion, it’s better for them to stick around, get used to college life, and adjust accordingly over their time at the school.

“You don’t get that pride, that feeling until the next year when you in college,” Anthony explained. “The first year? You’re just going through it. You happy to be a freshman in college. You still don’t got your classes right, you still trying to get your feet wet. You don’t know the parties yet. You don’t know who’s who on campus. You may see somebody in October that you don’t see again until May.”

“That next year is when you, like, ‘Aight. I got one under my belt,'” said Anthony. “I’ve been here, I got a little bit of familiarity. I know how to move now. That’s when you get the love. The first year? You don’t get the love.”

To be fair, though, a sophomore season isn’t an experience that Anthony himself had. After leading Syracuse to a national title as a historically great freshman in college basketball, he elected to leave and enter his name into the 2003 NBA Draft where he’d be the No. 3 pick by the Denver Nuggets.

Still, back to the point, Anthony’s argument stands in the sense that it’s uncommon to stick it out at a school anymore. Going pro or transferring elsewhere happen more often than a player staying at one program, developing, and playing for only them during their time in school.

The portal isn’t going anywhere with it being in use for the past five years now. As such, players will continue to utilize it how they see fit if they feel that its best for them. Anthony just wishes that more of them wouldn’t be so quick to move on in hopes that it would improve the product on the collegiate level.