BIG EAST RECRUITING UPDATE: SYRACUSE

August 5, 2009

VERBAL COMMITMENT ALERT: Fabricio de Melo, (C) from Sagemont Academy in Westin (FL).

Projected 2009-2010 Roster:

Seniors: Arinze Onuaku (BF/C), Andy Rautins (G)
Juniors: Richard Jackson (BF), Wesley Johnson** (F)
Sophomores: Kris Joseph (F), Antonio Jardine* (G)
Freshmen: Brandon Triche (G), James Southerland (F), Dashonte Riley (C), Mookie Jones *** (SG)
2010 Commitments: C.J. Fair (PF), Dion Waiters (G), Baye Moussa Keita (C), Fabricio de Melo (C)

* Will sit out 2008-2009 as a medical redshirt
** Sat out 2008-2009 per NCAA transfer rules
*** Granted medical redshirt after missing majority of 2008-2009 with hip injury

Syracuse won a major recruiting battle over conference rival Louisville and the three major Florida institutions when 7-foot Brazilian center Fabricio de Melo verbally committed to the Orange yesterday before heading home to Brazil prior to starting school later this month at Sagemont High School in Florida. De Melo is a 7-foot, 267-lb low post center and Syracuse Basketball Nets an Elite Recruit with 'Fab' Melo (Syracuse Post-Standard).


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Fabricio de Melo took the college basketball recruiting world by storm last spring as word spread quickly about a 7-footer from Brazil attending school in Florida. When college coaches were on the road in April watching player workouts, Sagemont High School was a popular destination for some of the biggest names in the coaching business. De Melo was quick to reduce his recruiting list to the likes of Syracuse, Louisville, Connecticut, Florida, Florida State and Miami. After not being able to play in high school during the 2008-2009 season, many were anxious to see 'Fab' Melo in action on the AAU circuit. Playing with the Florida Rams in the spring, Melo proved his worth as a prospect, despite the long layoff of competitive game action.

As spring turned into summer and the July evaluation periods got underway, the college coaches continued to flock to see the Florida Rams in action. Melo was regarded as a top 5 prospect in the class of 2010 and wherever the Florida Rams were in action, you could be sure either Jim Boeheim or Mike Hopkins, if not both, would be stationed in a prime viewing area. That dedication and persistence paid off.

Syracuse basketball nets an elite recruit -- 7-foot center Fab Melo of Brazil
Posted by Mike Waters / The Post-Standard August 04, 2009 9:33AM
Categories: Breaking News

Photo courtesy of Louisville Courier-Journal
Recruit Fab Melo, a 7-foot center from Brazil who plays high school basketball in Florida, has decided to play for Syracuse University and coach Jim Boehem.Get ready for another Melo at Syracuse. Fabricio De Melo, a 7-foot native of Brazil, has decided to attend Syracuse University, according to his high school coach.

De Melo, who answers to the shortened version of his name "Fab Melo,'' chose Syracuse over offers from Louisville, Florida State and Connecticut. Several other schools, including Texas, Florida, Kansas, Georgetown and Miami, had also expressed interest in the Brazilian center.

"He felt really comfortable with Coach Boeheim, Mike Hopkins and Bernie Fine,'' Sagemont High School coach Adam Ross told the Syracuse Post-Standard. "It really came down to that; feeling comfortable with the coaches and the school and the city.''

Melo had visited Syracuse earlier this spring and following that visit an internet firestorm started that a commitment would be forthcoming. However, that was a little premature as Orange fans were forced to wait out the recruiting process a little longer and the summer period before they got their wish, another Melo to cheer on wearing the Orange uniform.

De Melo is a true center and in a class that is very thin in terms of big men, he is a major recruiting coup. However, De Melo is not the only big man in the SU class fo 2010 as the Orange landed Baye Moussa Keita, who also has been in the United States for a short period of time, last season. Keita is an athletic 6-foot-10 big man from Senegal and has the physical tools to be a very good player down the road and Jim Boeheim and staff are banking that he will develop into a star by the time he arrives in central New York.

Keita definitely will be well tutored as he will be playing at powerful Oak Hill Academy in Virginia under coach Steve Smith. Keita began to make some noise last spring when he competed in the Jordan Brands international Game at MSG and then got some additional exposure in the Nike Global Challenge this past August. Although his time was limited in the recent 2009 Primetime Shootout, but the potential is obvious.

With most young big man, adding muscle and weight is one of the most immediate needs for Keita. With a listed weight of under 200 pounds on the Nike Global Challenge roster, Keita has a ways to go to be ready for the Big East battles, but time is on his side. Coach Smith at Oak Hill believes he is more along than previous Senegal natives at the same time when they entered Oak Hill, including DeSagana Diop who went right into the NBA Draft from Oak Hill.

Keita has shown development this summer on the AAU circruit and with de Melo, SU has a very rare daily double of big men in the class of 2010.

It was an exciting weekend around Syracuse last October as the basketball program kicked off their official start of practice and the return of Carmelo Anthony to the Carrier Dome took place on a Friday night as well. The former Orange star was in town with his Denver Nuggets teammates for a pre-season match-up against Shaquille O'Neal, Steve Nash and and rest of the Phoenix Suns.

Taking in all the excitement of the weekend was a 6-foot-8 forward hoping to follow in Carmelo's footsteps. C.J. Fair, a highly touted member of the class of 2010, was making an unofficial visit and liked what he saw and the opportunity ahead of him and decided to pledge for the Orange.

Like Anthony, Fair will come to the 'Cuse via Baltimore. The left-handed shooter has the ability to score from the perimeter and put the ball on the floor and attack the rim. Weighing in at a slight 186 pounds, Fair will have to work on adding muscle and weight to his frame before lacing them up in the Big East, but the potential to fit very well in the Syracuse system under Jim Boeheim at forward is very clear to see. Others interested included Louisville, Maryland, Georgetown, Virginia and others. Fair missed the summer AAU circuit due to ACL surgery, but the Orange had no hesitation in making their move to secure a commitment.

Their dedication to Fair looks like it has paid off in a big way as Fair was a stand-out performer earlier this summer at the Lebron James Skilly Academy and King City Classic. Fair will continue his development during his senior season playing on a very good Brewster Academy team in Wolfeboro (NH).

Fair was the second commitment for the class of 2010 for SU as they already had a big time commitment from guard Dion Waiters out of Philadelphia. Waiters is a BIG-TIME offensive talent and is a cousin of current Orange guard Antonio Jardine. Waiters committed to SU more than two years ago, before ever playing in a Varsity high school game. He spent a season at South Kent in Connecticut and will be finishing his pre-Orange career at Life Center Academy.

With the commitments of de Melo, Keita, Fair and Waiters, the Orange are left with one scholarship, on paper, for the class of 2010. The top target seems to be Long Island (NY) forward Tobias Harris, who will be visiting SU for their elite camp at the end of this month. New England big man Carson Desrosiers has also been highly interested in Syracuse and has them as one of his finalists. The Orange have also been a favorite of Memphis (TN) point guard Joe Jackson, who has expressed to NBE his desire to visit SU this summer. With the make-up of the Orange roster, adding a point guard might be a very solid move on the staff's part.

The class of 2011 also has several players standing out for the Orange on the recruiting trail. Players like Shaquille Thomas, nephew of former Villanova star Tim Thomas, Texas forward LeBryan Nash, Delaware sharp-shooter Trevor Cooney, Philly guard Juan'Ya Green, NJ guard Myles Mack, Mississippi forward LaQuinton Ross, Michigan guard Calrton Brundidge and NYC G/F Maurice Harkless are just a few names that told NBE in the past month the Orange are on their lists for 2011.


The Syracuse basketball roster is going to look very different in 2009-2010 than it did in 2008-2009 when the Orange returned to the NCAA Tournament after back-to-back trips to the NIT. Led by a talented backcourt which included sophomore Jonny Flynn and juniors Eric Devendorf and Paul Harris, SU reached the Sweet 16, winning in the NCAA Tournament for the first time sinc the 2003-2004 season. With the potential of a top 5 preseason club, things looked to be returning to normal in central New York. However, the spring following the season was anything but normal as Flynn, Devendorf and Harris decided to move on and try their hand in the professional ranks, with Flynn being taken in the lottery portion of the 2009 NBA Draft. Also, 6'11 center Sean Williams left the program to transfer closer to home out west. Suddenly, a full roster is down to 10 players for the 2009-2010 season.

One new player is in the form of Dashonte Riley, a late period signee that was a recruiting coup for the Orange. The Detroit (MI) native is a 6-foot-11 center who is a strong defender with a developing offensive game. A very long, lean and athletic big man, Riley has the physical tools that colleges crave as his upside potential is tremendous.

Riley played for one of the nation's top high school programs under coach Kurt Keener at Country Day, where they were ranked in the top 10 by USA Today all season. Playing on a loaded team that inlcuded highly regarded junior guard Ray McCallum, Jr as well as USF commit Jordan Dumars and Donnavan Kirk, a Miami-commit, Riley has contributed about 9 points, 10 rebounds and 4 blocks per game. Riley seems like an ideal fit for the back-end of the SU press as a deterrent for opponents to attack the rim. His athletic ability also should fit very well in the style of the Orange

For more on Riley, you can visit: DaShonteRiley.org.

The make-up of the Syracuse roster showed a need for a point guard, and with Flynn eventually foregoing his final two years of eligibility, the need became urgent, and the Orange did not have to go very far to fill that void as Jamesville-DeWitt star Brandon Triche decided to stay close to home and chose the Orange over finalists Georgetown, Connecticut and Georgia Tech last fall. Triche showed at the Reebok Summer Championships the ability to get into the lane and use his size and strength to get to the rim and score. Triche does need to add a more consistent jump shot as it was evident throughout the summer that his perimeter touch needs work.

The Orange get a tough local kid with a high basketball IQ in Triche. He has shown outstanding court vision in high school and is an excellent passer. He has recovered from an ACL injury that cut short his sophomore season and he finished his career strong, being named the NYS player of the year last season.

Prior to his commitment to SU, the NBE Basketball Report spent some time Catching Up With Brandon Triche and this is what he had to say about the Orange:

“The location is a factor. It’s like five minutes from my house. The coach is a Hall of Famer, and Johnny Flynn will probably head to the NBA after the season, so that will open up a spot for me.”

The Triche name is a familair one for Orange fans. Brandon's uncle, Howard Triche, was a starter ont he SU squad that lost to Indiana on Keith Smart's last second jumper in the NCAA Championship Game in 1987.

For now, Triche and Riley join previous commit James Southerland in the SU class of 2009. Southerland was originally expected to be part of the 2008 class, but he attended a second year of prep school at Notre Dame Prep. The 6-foot-7 forward has an excellent perimeter game and is working on adding strength and a more well-rounded arsenal. Despite rumors circulating late on the AAU circuit last summer, Southerland re-affirmed his commitment to SU and the presence of Mike Hopkins at every game that Southerland played with the Albany City Rocks in the Desert Duel showed how much the Orange were still interested in him. SU Looked in on Southerland at the Desert Duel and he was very offensive minded, again showing his needs to round out his game.


Triche, Riley and Southerland are not the only newcomers for the 2009-2010 season as SU will also add an important transfer. When Wesley Johnson informed the staff at Iowa State he was transferring they were not happy with the news. Losing a quality player is very tough and Johnson is definitely, at least, a quality player. As his list of potential destinations grew and was fine-tuned, it was clear that many schools believed he would be making a big impact wherever he ended up. After taking a visit to Syracuse, Johnson found his next home and decided there was no need to take any additional visits. Johnson also considered West Virginia, Pittsburgh and Ohio State as finalists.

Johnson is a 6'7 combo forward with plenty of length and athleticism, perfect for Jim Boehiem's style of play. His sophomore numbers were a little less than expected after an excellent freshman campaign in the Big 12, but a stress fracture in his foot, which forced him to miss five games and eventually led to an April surgery, took away much of his trademark explosive athletic ability.

As a freshman at Iowa State, the Texas native averaged 12.3 points and 7.9 rebounds. As a sophomore, he contributed 12.4 points a game, but the rebounding total dipped in half, but a lot of that was due to the injuries that had him on the perimeter more than going inside to battle.

It was a little bit of a dry run for SU in the postseason, but their recruiting momentum is certainly rolling again. There should be a lot of excitement in the Carrier Dome the next few winters with the collection of talent heading their way.