Speculation had Tobias Harris going just about anywhere, but Dion Waiters had him pegged for Syracuse.

A Syracuse commit even before his days of high school varsity ball, Waiters knew how important his class, the Class of 2010, was. He wanted nothing more than to make it the best – a near guarantee by locking down Harris, the No. 9 overall high school player in the nation, according to Scout.com.

‘We need to get that one piece right there, and we’re going to be good,’ Waiters said.

But as the bright lights from ESPN cameras went live to Harris’ announcement at ESPN Zone in Times Square on Nov. 19, the storybook class took a turn. Though Harris was sporting an orange button-down shirt and sat in the foreground of a slew of SU fans, he chose Tennessee.

A smile spread across his face as he held out a cake shaped like a Volunteers jersey with his name across the back. But that smile quickly faded when he thought about Waiters.

‘He said he was going to watch and that he didn’t want me to tell him,’ Harris said. ‘He might be a little disappointed.’

This is how Syracuse’s 2010 class may be remembered for the early signing period, a trail of anticipation leading to heartbreak. Despite the late-season thud, though, SU still emerged with the No. 4 class in the country according to Scout.com – its highest ranking since 2007.

With letters of intent from Waiters, forward C.J. Fair and centers Fab Melo and Baye Moussa Keita, the new class is embracing its role as one of the nation’s best and looks to prove the pundits right, despite losing out on the highly touted Harris.

Just ask Melo. The 7-foot, 270-pound center from Brazil paid no mind to the college basketball scene just two years ago. Growing up in a foreign country, names like Jim Boeheim, Roy Williams and Ben Howland carried little clout.

But after spending a year in the recruiting process and hearing the hype surrounding his future school, he began to understand the buzz that can converge on a solid recruiting class, and conversely, the pressure that comes with living up to it.

‘Now I know how big it is,’ Melo said in a telephone interview this week. ‘When I came from Brazil I had no idea about Syracuse. I didn’t know about North Carolina or UCLA; I didn’t know any of that. And now I know how important it is to play next year.’

Melo can feel the sense of urgency. Without Harris, he is the headliner of the 2010 class. A bulky yet agile center, Melo, a senior at Sagemont (Fla.) School, has drawn comparisons to the Los Angeles Lakers’ Andrew Bynum and is ranked the third-best at his position by Scout.com.

He is lauded for his assertiveness around the basket, which he couples with a delicate mid-range game and a unique awareness that affords him the ability to garner assists to cutting players underneath the basket. Though his moves are at times raw, it’s the intrigue surrounding his possible upside that continues to improve his stock.

‘His potential is limitless,’ Melo’s AAU coach Mike Ramker said. ‘He comes with the right frame of mind, and if he works hard at college, he has the chance to be as good as any player in the country. He’s got great size and great ability, and he just needs to continue to work hard every day.’

Behind Melo sits Waiters. A slashing guard with a nose for the basket, Waiters makes his trademark on cutting his way to the hoop then stepping back beyond the arc with solid long-range game.

Couple that with Fair – a three-star forward out of Brewster Academy (N.H.) High School – who averages over 20 points per game and the potential for a powerful offense is limitless, Melo said.

‘I had camp with them, and I’ve seen them and they are really good players, and I would like to play with them, of course,’ Melo said. ‘They are the top players in the nation, and I’m excited to be part of it.’

This is not how the early signing period will be remembered for Syracuse. A wild goose chase after a highly touted recruit has drawn the attention away from what was supposed to be Melo, Waiters, Fair and Moussa Keita’s fall.

But to Melo, it doesn’t seem to matter. The only way to deliver is to prove it come next November.

Said Melo: ‘We will be ready.’

Next signing period

Though Syracuse already has the hype machine pumping for next year’s class, there’s still some intrigue left in the final signing period, which occurs between April 14 and May 19, 2010.

According to Scout.com, SU is still in the running for two of the top players in the nation, including No. 2 Brandon Knight.

Knight, a point guard out of the Pine Crest (Fla.) School, is one of the best scoring lead guards in the nation and has scouts captivated with his ability to drive to the basket. Despite his reputation as more of a shooting point guard, Knight has been perused heavily by the likes of Connecticut, Florida, Kansas, Kentucky, Miami and SU.

A possible tie to SU lies in that Knight went to the same high school as current Orange guard Brandon Reese.

Josh Selby, another high-scoring combo guard, could also potentially be in a Syracuse uniform next semester. Ranked No. 10 overall by Scout.com, the 6-foot-2 180-pound sharpshooter out of Lake Clifton (Md.) High School, is also being looked at by Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Syracuse and Miami.

ctorr@syr.edu

Published on December 7, 2009 at 12:00 pm