#Carmelo Anthony: Mikey Williams can ‘change history’ by going to an HBCU

Carmelo Anthony had one of the best freshman seasons in college basketball history, but the former Syracuse star hopes Mikey Williams’ first year on campus makes an even greater impact.

Williams, one of the country’s top-rated recruits in the 2023 class, is considering a groundbreaking decision to play at a historically black college or university despite offers from Kansas, UCLA, Arizona and several more high-major programs.

Anthony, and other NBA players like Lou Williams and DeMarcus Cousins, enthusiastically endorsed the 15-year-old’s unprecedented idea, believing it could begin a trend among other top-rated black recruits.

“All it takes is one person to change history,” Anthony said on a video posted to Instagram. “I think it’s a better chance of this next generation to go to an HBCU and be accepted and bring something different to an HBCU, as opposed to what was happening in 2002. So, do I think a kid like Mikey Williams should consider an HBCU? I think he should based on the power he has within himself. If he does that, it changes college sports because you have a young, black kid who is at the top of his game, who decides to go to a black university, that’s totally different.”

Williams, a 6-foot-2 guard from California, sparked the unthinkable conversation last week when he tweeted, “Going to an HBCU wouldn’t be too bad…”

Williams, whose mother attended Hampton, quickly received scholarship offers from a slew of HBCU, like Alabama State, Delaware State, Grambling State, Howard, Morehouse, North Carolina Central and others.

“I’ve always looked into going to an HBCU; my mom went to Hampton, and she put it in my head early, with my social media following and influence I feel that I have a chance to change sports forever,” Williams told Bleacher Report. “A lot of athletes are so star struck by big-name schools and coaches that they forget they control their own narrative.

“If there’s anybody that is getting paid from me being at their school I’d want it to be my own people. It’s all about timing and situation. I support the black community to the fullest and any way possible I can help I’m going to do so no matter what it is.”

Williams, who has 2.1 million followers on Instagram, has not yet committed to choosing an HBCU, but vowed the schools would be candidates he will strongly consider.

“Any way I can help or make a change in the black community best believe I am going to do that,” Williams wrote. “Only God knows what the future holds. But when that time does come that I have to narrow my schools down to whatever number it is…there WILL be multiple HBCU’s on that list! And they won’t just be there for show.”