Syracuse U basketball recruit Fab Melo is improving
Bob Matthews – Staff writer
Bob Matthews – March 5, 2010 - 6:00am
Syracuse University basketball recruit Fab Melo’s first and only high school season at Sagemont School in Weston, Fla., probably will end tonight when his 25-7 team plays loaded Jacksonville Providence (29-1 record, ranked 11th in the nation by MaxPreps.com) in the Florida state semifinals in Lakeland.
The 7-foot, 274-pound Brazilian import started slowly but averaged around 15 points and 10 rebounds in the second half of the season. He’s a project and still is learning the game, but he’s the No. 20 college prospect in the Class of 2010 and the No. 2 center (behind only 6-foot-9, 320-pound UCLA-bound Josh Smith).
The latest scouting reports say Melo has good hands and feet but isn’t a shot-blocker yet and should be a better rebounder for his size and coordination. It sounds like he might need more than one year at SU to develop his game. He’s a promising low-post offensive player with good inside moves and a soft touch, and he has an 87-inch wingspan that should fit in nicely in SU’s 2-3 zone.
Your next chance to check out Melo will be Wednesday, March 31, at 8 p.m., on ESPN in the 33rd annual McDonald’s All American Game.
The Minnesota Twins have one of baseball’s best lineups — if they had a third baseman with some punch it would be even better — and the hitters will benefit from new Target Field, which will have less foul territory than any stadium in the majors except Wrigley Field. … The battle for the final spot on Minnesota’s 25-man roster is between spare infielders Alexi Casilla and Matt Tolbert. Casilla is out of options and likely would be claimed if put on waivers. Tolbert could be assigned to Rochester without being exposed on the waiver wire. Ron Shapiro, Joe Mauer’s agent, arrived in Fort Meyers, Fla., Wednesday for face-to-face negotiations with the Twins. My guess: a four- or five-year contract (Mauer’s option for the extra year) at $20 million per season. Mauer will make $12.5 million this season in the final year of a four-year, $33 million contract. … 20-year-old pitcher Deolis Guerra is the only player remaining with the Twins from the Johan Santana trade with the Mets in 2008. He’s a long shot top pitcher for the Red Wings this season.
Right-handed pitcher Stephen Strasburg, the No. 1 overall pick in the 2009 baseball entry, not only is good enough to begin this season with the Washington Nationals, he’d probably be the team’s best starting pitcher. But the Nationals have suggested that they don’t want to rush him and that he’s likely to start this season with Syracuse (Triple-A) or Harrisburg (Double-A). If Red Wings fans are fortunate, Strasburg will be in Syracuse’s starting rotation when the Chiefs come to Frontier Field May 18-21.
Steve Donner, president of the National Lacrosse League Orlando Titans, is bringing pro soccer to Orlando with a team in the proposed United Soccer League’s First Division in 2011. The ever-ambitious Donner also considered indoor soccer and hockey. USL CEO Alec Papadakis said, “Steve (Donner) has an extensive and successful background with USL, and he’s the perfect person to bring a professional team to soccer-hungry Central Florida.” I’m happy for Donner that he apparently has landed on his feet in Orlando after a sad final few years as a sports entrepreneur in his hometown Rochester, but I hope he doesn’t press too hard too soon for taxpayers in Central Florida to build a new soccer stadium.
Rochester product Jon “Bones” Jones, one of the hottest properties in mixed martial arts, remains a big favorite ($260 to win $100) over Brandon Vera (bet $100 to win $200, according to odds posted by BetUs.com) in UFC on Versus 1, Saturday, March 21, from Las Vegas. … Pete Rose is scheduled to host WWE Monday Night Raw Monday, March 22, live from San Jose, Calif., six nights before WrestleMania XXVI in Glendale/Phoenix, Ariz. Pete must wish he could wager on the matches after seeing Vince McMahon’s scripts. … The latest inductees to the Rochester USBC Bowling Association Hall of Fame include Jerry Brunette Jr. of Greece. His credentials include: Association-record 250 average for the 2007-08 season; 52 certified 300 games; and 36 800 series.
According to Dave Krider of MaxPreps.com, there was an interesting recent high school hockey game in Minnesota. St. Cloud Tech defeated Bemidji 3-2 in six overtimes. Losing goalie Axel Osborn had 58 saves, reportedly a national high school record. … Jeff Sagarin’s college basketball computerized rankings for USA Today list Kansas, Syracuse, Duke, Kentucky and Kansas State 1-through-5. He rates SU’s schedule the 33rd toughest in the country out of 347 major colleges. Other Big East schools rank 1st (West Virginia), 2nd (Georgetown), 3rd (St. John’s) and 5th (Cincinnati) for toughest schedules. He thinks the average home-court advantage is 4.53 points. That seems low to me. … Today is the 37th anniversary of what I consider to be the strangest trade in sports history. On March 5, 1973, New York Yankees pitchers Fritz Peterson and Mike Kekich shook up spring training camp by announcing that they’d swapped wives, children and dogs. Said Yankees general manager Lee MacPhail, “We may have to cancel Family Day this season.”
