In a report Saturday night, former Syracuse Orange big man Fab Melo passed away in Brazil.
A SporTV journalist reported that Melo, 26, died in his home in Brazil. The cause of death hasn’t been confirmed, but it’s possible that the former Orangeman suffered a heart attack in his sleep.
According to RealGM, Melo last suited up with Uniceub-BRB-Brasilia of Liga Sudamericana in Brazil, and he averaged 2.3 points and 3.7 rebounds in seven games. Melo made the jump to playing internationally after his NBA career didn’t pan out, and the former McDonald’s All-American appeared in just six games with the Boston Celtics back in 2012-13.
Melo spent some time in the D-League before that but was never able to stand out like he did during his two seasons with Syracuse back in 2011 and 2012. His most notable moment during that time was when he recorded a triple-double on Dec. 22, 2012. Melo scored 15 points, hauled in 16 boards and swatted a D-League record 14 shots.
As a sophomore with the Orange, Melo brought home the Big East’s Defensive Player of the Year award after averaging 2.9 blocks per game, and that number ballooned to 3.7 in conference play.
That team finished the year 34-3 overall after losing to Ohio State in the Elite Eight, but Melo was unable to play in any postseason games because of academic ineligibility.
We send our prayers and condolences to the Melo family, and Fab was a player who was definitely good enough to carve out a niche playing professionally overseas. He was taken too soon.
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