July 9, 2009

Adam Zagoria
Rivals High

When Fabricio de Melo first arrived at the Weston (Fla.) Sagemont Upper School from Brazil last fall, basketball coach Adam Ross had difficulty pronouncing his name.

"Everyone was calling him Fabio, Fabian and finally I just said, 'You know what, I see Brazilian soccer players go by one name,' " Ross said. " 'We gotta find a shorter name for you, like Yao or something. How about Fab Melo?' "

The young man looked at Ross and smiled.

"OK, Fab Melo," he said.

"Now he's Fab Melo," Ross concurred.

The name may sound like a boy band or a refreshing new soft drink, but Fab Melo is actually a 7-foot, 267-pound center who is one of the hottest names on the summer recruiting circuit.

"You just don't find that many big bodies who are as naturally talented offensively as de Melo," Rivals.com national recruiting analyst Jerry Meyer wrote. "He is in the same category as Al Jefferson and DeMarcus Cousins in terms of offensive skill level. There is still work to do defensively and as a rebounder, but the improvement is evident primarily because of a steady improvement in his conditioning. It also would be nice to see de Melo keep the ball higher after his rebounds."

The top-five prospect doesn't do too many interviews because of the language barrier, but he spoke to the Louisville Courier-Journal this week at the ItTakes5ive Classic at the University of Cincinnati.

"I'm having fun," Melo said "It's good to be here, and I like playing."

Like most South American kids, Melo played soccer in his home country. When he reached 6-8 in the ninth grade, his soccer coach sent him to see the basketball coach.

Soon, Melo became a member of the Brazilian 17-and-under national team and averaged 13.5 points for PBF/Olimpico.

"He really grew physically as a player, and he realized that he may be a special enough talent to make money," Ross said.

At that point he and his family decided it would be best for Melo to come to the U.S., leaving his family behind.

"He knew that he wanted to come to south Florida," Ross said. "His host family in south Florida started doing research for him and decided that Sagemont was the place for him."

When he first competed in an open gym at Sagemont, Ross was blown away.

"I was sitting in the stands and scratching my head," he said. "Is someone playing a practical joke on me?"

He added: "He's just about as skilled as a 7-foot high school kid can be. He shoots really well. He can dribble and pass it. He had seven or eight assists [in a recent game at the ItTakes5ive Classic].

"He has great hands and great feet. He works his tail off. He loves the game; he loves being in the gym."

Due to the transfer regulations of the Florida High School Athletic Association, Melo sat out last season and worked out on his own. He will be eligible this year as a senior.

His stock rose in April when he competed with the Florida Rams at the King James Classic in Akron, Ohio.

"The following week during a five-day stretch in April, we had 30 or so high-major head coaches come in," Ross said. "John Calipari [of Kentucky], Coach [Jim] Calhoun [of UConn], Jim Boeheim [of Syracuse], Billy Donovan [of Florida], Leonard Hamilton [of Florida State], they all came through here.

"It's been hectic since."

Ross says Melo's college list consists of Louisville, UConn, Syracuse and Florida State, and some coaches say Louisville is the leader for his services.

Louisville became involved last fall when coach Rick Pitino and his former assistant, his son Richard Pitino, began recruiting two other 2011 Sagemont players, Rod Days and Richard Peters, who has since committed to Oklahoma.

"They were impressed with the two kids they came to see but were trying to figure why they didn't know anything about this huge 7-foot kid and what's his story," Ross said.

"Once they started they were relentless. Coach Pitino does a very, very good job in recruiting kids and works very hard and has certainly done a very good job with that."

Pitino attended three of Melo's four games at the adidas event in Cincinnati and will follow Melo to Springfield, Mass., this week.

"I like Louisville," Melo told the Courier-Journal. "I went there for a game [last winter]. It was nice."

The next school to get involved was UConn, which was also recruiting Peters.

"[Assistant coach] Pat Sellers was the first one here," Ross said. "Shortly after that Coach Calhoun and Coach [George] Blaney came."

Syracuse also got involved, and Melo has visited the Orange unofficially. He's also been to Florida and Florida State.

"He's a big-time name in the Big East right now. A lot of schools in their conference are recruiting him," Ross said.

"Kentucky and Georgetown are [also] recruiting him very hard, so is Texas."

Melo hopes to decide by the fall.

"I think he'll cut the list down after the July period to two or three schools and either make a decision based on those visits or he'll wait until school starts Aug. 24 - when he's able to take official visits and visit a couple of those places," Ross said.

"He'll sign a national letter of intent somewhere in November. He won't be a late signer."

And though he may sign his full name on the letter, he'll forever be known as Fab Melo.

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