"Without Team Melo, I don't think I could be anywhere": Carmelo Anthony's son Kiyan owes his popularity to dad's AAU team

The influence of AAU teams among young hoopers cannot be overstated, and this is especially true in the case of Kiyan Anthony, the son of NBA icon Carmelo Anthony. Kiyan is now one of the top high school players in the country, thanks to his exposure with his AAU team, Team Melo.

Last year, Overtime dropped a YouTube docu-series, "Evolu7ion," focusing on Kiyan's growth as he evolves as a basketball player, and the documentary shed light on his AAU journey.

On Saturday, the latest episode of the second season of the series was released, and it featured his last-ever AAU tournament. In the video, Kiyan discussed the impact of his dad's team on his development.

"Team Melo really raised me," he said. "At 16, nobody knew who I was. At 15, nobody definitely knew who I was. Team Melo definitely helped me, like, without Team Melo, I don't think I could be anywhere." (3:54 mark)

The episode focused on Anthony's preparation ahead of the highly anticipated matchup against DMV rival Team Durant in Nike's EYBL Peach Jam this summer.

Anthony proved his mettle, scoring 27 points and dishing out three assists as Team Melo defeated Team Durant 73-66 in overtime. Talking about his performance in the game, he said:

"I came out killing. I had to have a good game. It was no way that I didn't play super good in that game," (6:51 mark)

In the tournament, he averaged 21.8 points, 2.6 rebounds and 2.5 assists per game, including a 40-point performance against Mac Irvin Fire, a tournament-best.

Kiyan Anthony reveals baseball was his first choice of sport

It's a little strange that Kiyan Anthony, the son of NBA legend Carmelo Anthony, was not initially set on a basketball career, as he revealed baseball was his first love.

The Long Island Lutheran star revealed in an interview with Pro Insight Tyler Glazier that when he was younger, baseball was his primary sport. He said he only started seriously focusing on basketball much later.

"Baseball was my first sport," he said. "I played baseball when I was younger, I just thought it was super fun like hitting the ball, but then I went to a basketball tryout. I made the team. I wasn't really playing but I had a lot of fun like on trips and stuff and then I started getting better."

"When I first started playing basketball I was still focused on baseball, but now, playing basketball more... I just let baseball go."

Earlier this month, Anthony, the top recruit in New York, narrowed down his college choices to three schools: Syracuse, USC and Auburn.