Carmelo Anthony has been all that the Denver Nuggets could have hoped that he would be in the NBA.

He’s, perhaps, the best scorer in the league.  Anthony is one of the few players that are, what I like to call, quadruple threats with the rock.  He can shoot it consistently from three point range.  He has the ability to put it on the floor and make things happen.  But the next two are what really sets him apart – Anthony has a sweet mid-range game and is an above-average post-up player, thus rounding out all of the attributes that make him unstoppable when it comes to putting points on the scoreboard.

But now that another NCAA tournament is almost in the books, there’s another reason that I have begun to appreciate him more.  During the 2002-2003 college basketball season, Melo led his Syracuse Orangemen to the NCAA championship…during his freshman year.  Understandably, that was his one and only year of college eligibility, as he took his game to the NBA.  But who wouldn’t have?  After winning the ultimate collegiate prize in your sport, what’s left to do?  Time to go and get paid.

Anthony and the Orangemen ended his only collegiate season by winning the ultimate prize.

Who else in today’s NBA can lay claim to stepping on campus and instantly bringing a title to his school?  Kevin Durant was spectacular, but couldn’t do it.  Greg Oden and Michael Conley didn’t get the job done.  Even the consensus #1 college player in the land last year, Blake Griffin, was unable to single-handedly take Oklahoma to the promised land.

Carmelo has the special ability to play every possession as if it were his last.  It’s apparent in his offensive ferocity today, just as it was when he led the Orange to the title seven years ago and when his Oak Hill Academy team was defeating his long-time pal (and rival) LeBron James’ St.Vincent-St. Mary’s squad. 

The Kentucky Wildcats have a trio of top-notch freshmen – with John Wall leading the pack, DeMarcus Cousins controlling the paint, and Eric Bledsoe providing some extra spark.  But even they fell victim to West Virginia in an Elite Eight showdown yesterday.  But even a veteran stud like Ohio State’s Evan Turner didn’t have shoulders broad enough to carry his team all the way.

So, even if he’s not the biggest superstar in the Association, what he accomplished in college has not – and probably will not be seen for some time.  While the mega-talented ballers were sprinting past the NCAA, Anthony went against the grain.  He proved that he could dominate it.

And dominate he did.