Fab Melo To Miss The NCAA Tournament
Posted by nvr1983 on March 13th, 2012Syracuse‘s dreams of a second national title took a significant hit today when the school announced that starting center Fab Melo had been declared ineligible for the NCAA Tournament due to ongoing issues regarding his academic eligibility. Melo, who missed three games earlier this season while trying to sort out his eligibility issues, was the anchor of the team’s defense and averaged 7.8 points, 5.9 rebounds, and 2.9 blocks per game. Syracuse issued the following statement on the decision:
Syracuse University sophomore men’s basketball center Fab Melo did not travel with the team to Pittsburgh, and will not take part in the NCAA Tournament due to an eligibility issue. Given University policy and federal student privacy laws, no further details can be provided at this time.
The suspension is a big blow to a team that had title aspirations as it leaves a significant hole in the interior of their zone defense and weakens an already horrid defensive rebounding presence. As Luke Winn and numerous others have detailed the Orange’s defense suffers when Melo is out and with a potential Elite Eight match-up with Ohio State and Jared Sullinger looming this may end up costing the Orange a Final Four trip.
Wow!! I don’t think we will see Melo in a ‘cuse uniform anymore. Tough blow for this team..