Lee Melchionni was out in front of every defender, in the stadium he had always dreamed of playing in, with 9,314 pairs of eyes looking just at him.
Duke was beating Wake Forest Feb. 20, and the 6-foot-6 Melchionni appeared ready to slam home a rim-rattling dunk that would blow the roof off of Cameron Indoor Stadium. Instead, Melchionni’s two-handed attempt barely cleared the rim.
“When he stole the ball I was like, Lee’s about to get his first collegiate dunk,” said Shelden Williams, Melchionni’s roommate. “And then I was like, he should’ve laid it up. It was like, you’re by yourself, and then you get off a little squeaker dunk. You’re supposed to bring the house down.”
Melchionni’s teammates must feel like they have to give him a hard time, just to keep him humble. It would seem natural that a player might develop a swelled head in the transition from playing just over five minutes per game last season to hitting big shots in Duke’s toughest conference games.
Luckily for the Blue Devils, the junior forward provides ample material for his teammates to use when trying to keep him modest. He has been known to jump on Williams to wake him up, streak in front of the television and, most frequently, perform repertoire of impressions.
His impression of Williams is his favorite, he says, and he launches into it after just a little bit of prodding.
“I just,” Melchionni starts out before dropping his voice several octaves, “talk in a deep voice and say, ‘My name is Shelden Williams, and uh, I’m from Oklahoma, and uh, I can block shots.”
Though Melchionni is proud of his impressions, his teammates value them mainly for their comic relief.
“Lee does the worst impressions of anyone,” said Daniel Ewing, who claims not to be a target of Melchionni’s imitations. “The best impression Lee has is probably talking like he’s Australian, but he uses the same voice for every other impression he uses. So he’s terrible.”
But if Melchionni’s impersonations and dunks have been sub-par, his teammates will surely forgive him because they would not be 22-5 without him. The Lancaster, Pa., native has done it all. He has shot from long range and driven to the basket. He has rebounded, set picks, chased down loose balls and made the extra pass. He has banged with big men near the basket and chased guards all over the court.
“That’s just amazing, going from guarding the other team’s center to the other team’s point guard,” Melchionni said. “You really just can’t imagine anything wackier.”
The Cameron Crazies have grown to love Melchionni’s intensity and his demonstrative nature on the court. Whether waving his arms or slapping the floor to pump up the crowd, leaping into the arms of teammates to celebrate a big play or gesturing to Wake Forest’s Trent Strickland to “bring it on,” Melchionni constantly displays emotion—and his teammates love it.
“Lee brings a lot of energy and a lot of emotion when he plays,” co-captain Reggie Love said. “The kid loves to play, you can tell.”
After starting the season on the bench, Melchionni found himself in the starting lineup when Love injured his foot in early January. While coming off the bench in the first part of the season, the junior averaged just 12.9 minutes per game and scored only 5.4 points per contest. Since his first career start against Princeton Jan. 5, Melchionni has played 25.9 minutes per game, averaged 9.2 points and made more than two three-point baskets per contest.
Of the 18 games Duke has played since then, Melchionni has started 11 and scored in double figures seven times, including a team-high 16 in 35 minutes against St. John’s Feb. 26.
“I’ve been on both sides of the fence, where I’ve been the second or third to last guy on the bench, and now I’m playing a huge role,” Melchionni said. “So its just like every time I step on the court, it’s a blessing and an opportunity, and I want to make the most of it.
“To be able to come in and be a big contributor is a dream come true.”
Melchionni said the turning point of his season occurred at home against Wake Forest. After the junior hit two clutch second-half baskets, the team urged him to keep shooting.
“J.J. [Redick] and Coach [Mike Krzyzewski] told me not to turn myself off and just keep attacking and really have the killer instinct out there,” Melchionni said. “From that point on I just had the ultimate confidence.”
Melchionni has displayed an uncanny ability to adapt to whatever role the injury-riddled Blue Devils need him to fill. When Love and Shavlik Randolph were sidelined, he stepped in as Duke’s second big man, complementing Williams and guarding taller and stronger players.
When point guard Sean Dockery tore his medial collateral ligament Feb. 23 and the team was left with just three scholarship guards, Melchionni increased his scoring, upping his average to 14.3 points per game in the three games since Dockery went down.
Even in the middle of games, Melchionni has worn different hats depending on what his team needed. He carried the offense in the first half against St. John’s, scoring 14 of the Blue Devils’ 28 first-half points. In the second half against North Carolina March 6, Melchionni stepped up when Redick went scoreless in the second half, helping Duke pull ahead of the Tar Heels with five three-pointers during the last 20 minutes.
But despite the improbability of his success, the bench-warmer turned Blue Devil hero maintains that he is not surprised by the season he is having. Neither are his teammates.
“I’m not the coach, but I thought Lee should’ve played a lot more last season,” Ewing said. “You’re finding out he can shoot the ball real well, but Lee’s had that stroke since he got here. But unfortunately for him, the teams he’s been on, he hasn’t gotten time. But his time has come now and he’s showing what he can do, and he’s stepping up big.”
Even though Melchionni has grown into a major role for the Blue Devils, he is still the same guy that causes Love to chuckle when asked about his antics.
“One time I whipped [Williams] with a shirt, whipped him in the eyeball, and I just ran for my life,” Melchionni said when asked to describe the time when Williams was the angriest he had ever seen him. “I thought that was kaput for me. He was like ‘Man, what are you doing?’.... So I went down and got him some cookies and a Gatorade as a peace offering.”
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