Syracuse star, Fab Melo, has officially been ruled ineligible and will not play in the NCAA tournament. Melo was declared ineligible on Tuesday by the University, not the NCAA, although no further details have been provided as to what the exact cause or reasoning is behind the ineligibility. Though he only averaged 7.8 points per game combined with 5.8 rebounds and 2.8 blocks, he was a key part in their hopes to make a deep tourney run. The 7-footer was named Big East defensive player of the year and recorded 88 total blocks this season for the Orange. This is a huge blow for the number one ranked Syracuse, but this is also a team that played without their star center before, as Melo did miss three games earlier in the season due to an academic issue.
Syracuse faces their first opponent of the tournament, 16-seed UNC-Asheville, on Thursday at 3:10 p.m. ET.
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