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The NCAA report on Syracuse used the school's handling of Fab Melo to show misplaced priorities throughout the SU athletic department.

(Lauren Long | syracuse.com)

Syracuse, N.Y. — Syracuse prioritized winning a second national championship over academics, breaking rules and protocol in order to keep Fab Melo on the floor for a potential Final Four run, according to the NCAA's investigation.

In the most vivid section of the 94-page report released Friday, the NCAA detailed a lack of institution control that included members of the basketball staff doing work for players, athletic department officials crossing boundaries into academics and the attempted destruction of evidence.

"In order to keep one of their best players eligible the institution simply did not take 'no' from the NCAA for an answer," the NCAA report said.

Melo's case, and the day-by-day timeline, highlight the decisions of an institution that valued athletics over academics playing out in real time.

On Jan. 15, 2012, Syracuse sat atop the country with a No. 1 ranking and a 20-0 record, beating opponents by an average of 19.6 points per game with Dion Waiters, the No. 4 pick in the upcoming NBA Draft, coming off the bench.

Melo was the centerpiece on defense, altering shots on his way to the Big East's Defensive Player of the Year Award.

When the second semester began, Melo had failed to make enough progress toward his degree. The issue would make him ineligible.

Melo tried to get a waiver, arguing he had medical and personal issues. It included a personal statement. In the end, it would turn out, the statement wasn't particularly personal.

The waiver was denied Jan. 16 and, five days later, Melo was out of the starting lineup for the first time all season. Syracuse lost its first game without him, falling on the road by nine points to a Notre Dame team led by Ben Hansborough.

Four days later, athletic director Daryl Gross called a meeting with at least seven other members of the Syracuse athletic department, the NCAA reported. It was an effort to brainstorm how to keep Melo in uniform. And to keep the Orange's national championship hopes alive.

"As the institution acknowledged at the hearing, a meeting like this, aimed at an individual student-athlete's eligibility options, had previously never occurred at the institution," the report said.

The Brazilian center "needed basketball," Gross said, according to the report.

Without it, Melo would have been on a plane home "the next day," Boeheim said in the report.

Boeheim wanted "the best defensive player in the country to play" but hoped Melo's return would be within the rules, the report said.

For the meeting, Gross called in director of basketball operations Stan Kissel, an assistant provost, the school's faculty-athletics representative, the director of compliance, the director of student-athletic services and both his deputy directors of athletics, two members of his so-called "Dream Team."

The group scanned Melo's transcript and debated three academic alternatives, eventually culminating in an effort to obtain a grade change from a class he'd taken the previous year.

It was Jan. 25.

"There was a sense of urgency," the report said, "as the institution's next scheduled basketball game was only three days away."

The next morning Melo and a former professor agreed he could submit a paper to raise his old grade.

Starting at 11:19 a.m. the paper, which was based heavily on Melo's personal statement to the NCAA that had been saved on Kissel's computer, was revised seven times in 27 hours. Each of the revisions was made by either Kissel or Debora Belanger, a basketball receptionist.

The pair exchanged seven e-mails and three phone calls during that time.

By the next morning, Melo had turned in four or five pages The professor ruled it "inadequate" because it did not include citations. Those changes were made by the afternoon.

"Unfortunately, the director of basketball operations and the basketball facility receptionist, not (Melo), completed and submitted the assignment," the report said.

"Word circulated and eventually multiple athletics and academic personnel involved themselves in ensuring that the grade change occurred as soon as possible and before institutional offices closed for the weekend," the report read.

"With time of the essence, the director of compliance (Erlease Wagner), the director of student-athlete support services (Kevin Wall) and the deputy director of athletics, as well as the professor, went to the registrar's office to ensure that the grade change form was processed 'appropriately.'"

Melo was not cleared by the next game and, over the weekend, Wagner, the university official in charge of enforcing rules, emailed the executive vice president/chief financial (Lou Marcocia). She noted that vice chancellor Eric Spina would be "very disappointed" if the request were not approved.

Representatives from the College of Arts & Sciences, Melo's home school, questioned the grade change Jan. 30. Two days later, though, he was cleared, back in action for a game against St. John's.

"No, I was never nervous," Melo told reporters at the time. "I knew at some point I would play. I wasn't nervous about it."

The Orange were back at full strength, beating St. John's by 25 points, No. 12 Georgetown in overtime and running off nine straight wins before a Big East Tournament loss.

"The last three games, you didn't see us get as many transition points and as many bench points," Brandon Triche said at the time. "Everything seemed interrupted, but now that Fab's back everything is normal again."

Syracuse earned a No. 1 seed for the NCAA Tournament and was one of the favorites.

Behind the scenes, however, the NCAA began questioning how Melo had regained eligibility so quickly. Syracuse investigated and uncovered the unauthorized assistance.

When an investigator went to meet with Melo, they discovered someone had tried to delete the paper from Kissel's computer a day earlier.

Melo ultimately earned an "F" on the paper and was suspended for academics March 14, taking him out of the NCAA tournament.

Belanger was fired. Kissel resigned. Wall was reassigned. Nearly everyone else remained, as Syracuse lost 77-70 to Ohio State in the Elite Eight.

Said the NCAA: "The academic leaders (including the faculty athletics representative and associate provost) were convened by the director of athletics, developed a game plan going forward and then left it to the director of basketball operations to get the job done."

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