UPDATED: March 14, 2012, 6:31 p.m.

PITTSBURGH – The news was originally viewed as another social media practical joke. Syracuse’s 7-foot center, Fab Melo, couldn’t really be ineligible for the NCAA Tournament, could he?

‘It was either Q or Jaron had went through Twitter,’ UNC Asheville guard Chris Stephenson said. ‘They were like, ‘Oh, man, Fab Melo, he’s not playing.’ At first everybody thought it was a joke.’

It wasn’t.

The Syracuse athletic department announced Tuesday that Melo would not be participating in the NCAA Tournament due to an eligibility issue. He didn’t travel with the team.

The absence of the Big East Defensive Player of the Year was the hot topic of Wednesday’s press conferences. Coaches and players of teams getting set to play on Thursday in Pittsburgh were asked repeatedly about how this changes both the tournament as a whole and the Orange as a team.

Here are some of the notable quotes about Melo from Wednesday’s press conferences:

Matt Dickey, guard, UNC Asheville: ‘He’s huge in the middle of that zone, a great shot-blocker. Big East Defensive Player of the Year. We feel bad for him. I would hate to have to be in that situation.’

Eddie Biedenbach, head coach, UNC Asheville: ‘Like I said earlier in the conversation, Christmas … Moussa Keita, they run the floor better, they’re athletic. There’s three or four inches different. They won’t block the shots. Melo blocks about five shots a game. The two of them together average about three shots a game. It’s the defensive end that makes the difference.’

‘We have to be concerned with what we do well, not the problems that Syracuse might have. They’re still a great team and the No. 1 seed, so we have our work cut out for us.’

Larry Eustachy, head coach, Southern Mississippi: ‘As idiotic as this is going to sound, and I don’t mean this in any way, shape or form, but I don’t know who he is. I really don’t. I don’t know who he is.’

Scoop Jardine, guard, Syracuse: ‘One of the things people have been saying about us all year is our depth. This is our opportunity. We got to believe in ourselves and everybody have to step it up a notch and I think we’ll be fine.’

Kris Joseph, forward, Syracuse: ‘Like you said about the obstacles, we overcame a lot of off-the-court issues. We played without him before. I don’t think we’re ill-prepared. We’ll be able to advance without him. It’s not something that hit us all of a sudden. We were informed, and we’ve done it before, so we’ll be ready.’

Jim Boeheim, head coach, Syracuse: ‘Next question. I can’t talk about this. But I will say he didn’t let anybody down, in my opinion, all right? I know that’s out there. I don’t believe that to be true.’

C.J. Fair, forward, Syracuse: ‘As his friend, I can’t believe this is happening to him. We’re trying to be there for him. I know he wishes he could be here.’

‘I wouldn’t say he let us down. Of course, it is a letdown with him not being here. But I don’t know what happened as far as his situation so I can’t say it was him that let us down.’

Baye Keita, center, Syracuse: ‘Now we just get ready. That’s one thing we have to do – play with the people that we have and move forward from it.’

Rakeem Christmas, forward, Syracuse: ‘Fab wasn’t here with us for three games. We were 2-1. We’re going to come out and play hard. All we have to do is get rebounds.’

Kevin Jones, forward, West Virginia: ‘We did play them without Fab Melo. He definitely is a difference maker. You can see it on their team. They definitely play better with him in the lineup. I think it is a crushing blow to them.’

Bob Huggins, head coach, West Virginia: ‘I think what Fab gave them was a more physical presence. They still have guys that can block shots. They’re just not as physical. They’re not as big and strong as what he was.’

Jimmy Patsos, head coach, Loyola (Md.): ‘I think (Ohio State) can win a national championship this year. Especially with Fab Melo being out.’

mjcohe02@syr.edu

-Staff writer Zach Brown contributed reporting to this article.

Published on March 13, 2012 at 12:00 pm

Contact Michael: mjcohe02@syr.edu | @Michael_Cohen13