Southern Mississippi coach Larry Eustachy does not know who Fab Melo is

With Fab Melo ruled ineligible for the NCAA tournament, some are wondering if Syracuse is destined for an early exit. Assuming the Orange get past 16th-seeded UNC-Asheville, the winner of the first (second) round game between Kansas State and Southern Mississippi could be primed to pull off an upset. You would think either of those teams would be salivating at the thought of taking on a Syracuse team that is missing the anchor of its smothering zone defense. Unless, of course, one of the coaches had no idea who Melo was.

“As idiotic as this sounds, I don’t know who (Fab Melo) is,” Southern Miss head coach Larry Eustachy said according to Campus Rivary, adding that he is not much of a college basketball fan during the season and is more of a “Law and Order” guy. “I get enough basketball in the gym.”

Come on. This has to be Eustachy’s way of emphasizing that his team is taking things one game at a time, right? Generally speaking, if you look ahead in the NCAA tournament you’re already doomed. Southern Miss has no reason to worry about a Big East team during the regular season, but Melo is one of the bigger names in college basketball. They are clearly focused on Kansas State, but this seems way too far-fetched. It would be impossible to have no idea who Melo is. At least, I think it would.