Fab Melo's absence no joke to Syracuse

PITTSBURGH -- The news reached the UNC Asheville basketball team via Twitter Tuesday as its bus traveled from campus to the airport.

"Oh, man, Fab Melo, he's not playing!" Chris Stephenson recalled someone blurting out. "At first everybody thought it was a joke," the senior swingman said Wednesday.

It was not. Syracuse, the No. 1 seed in the NCAA's East Regional, learned Tuesday it would be without Melo, a 7-foot sophomore who was named Big East Defensive Player of the Year, for the NCAA Tournament.

The bombshell caused millions to rethink their brackets and caused Syracuse and UNC Asheville to spend much of their news conferences here on a player who will not participate when they meet in a second-round game Thursday.

The person journalists most wanted to hear from was Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim, but though he spoke about Melo the person, he declined to discuss any specifics or timing related to his case.

Syracuse announced Tuesday Melo would not play in the NCAAs because of an "eligibility issue" but would not elaborate. ESPN reported the current problem is related to one that caused him to miss three games in January for academic reasons, including Syracuse's only regular-season loss, to Notre Dame.

Asheville already was regarded as a stronger-than-most No. 16 seed with a chance to become the first to defeat a No. 1. Now this. Its players noted Syracuse has plenty of tall, talented players without Melo but acknowledged that the loss of a shot-blocking force could make their lives easier. Melo's 88 blocks equal the total for the entire Asheville roster.

"[Boeheim] has nine, 10, 11, 12 great players left," coach Eddie Biedenbach said.

Rakeem Christmas, a 6-9 freshman who replaced Melo in January, and Baye Keita, a 6-10 sophomore, will be the primary fill-ins. Neither is as tall, heavy or strong as Melo. But both run the floor well.

Senior guard Scoop Jardine said the Orangemen might make up on offense what they lose on defense, and that a three-guard lineup could become part of the attack.

"Everybody will pick it up a notch and we'll be able to overcome this," senior forward Kris Joseph said.

The Melo news was the latest twist in Syracuse's melodramatic season.

On the court, the Orangemen are 31-2. Off it, the program has faced sexual abuse allegations that led to the firing of longtime assistant coach Bernie Fine and a Yahoo! report that multiple players have tested positive for banned substances since 2001 and were not properly disciplined for it.

Boeheim called the 31 victories "the best regular-season accomplishment that I've ever been a part of in 36 years." He also spoke warmly of Melo, insisting "he didn't let anybody down, in my opinion," lauding his improvement and calling him "a great kid."

"I feel bad for him," Boeheim said. "And I feel bad for the rest of the players on the team because you don't want to lose a teammate in this situation at this time."