Four years ago, Lee Melchionni arrived at Duke as a member of the highly touted 2002 "super six" recruiting class. Leaving Duke after winning three ACC Tournament titles, the senior has no plans of ending his basketball career just yet.
After his rise through the Duke system, Melchionni has little chance of reaching the NBA, but he hopes to catch on with a European team for a few seasons before seeking a non-basketball career.
"I'd like to play in Europe for a year or two, make money, see the world and immerse myself in another culture," Melchionni said. "I'm working on getting my Italian citizenship right now."
When he finishes his tour of Europe, Melchionni said he would like to put his Duke education to work and try to land a job in finance in New York City.
Prior to his senior year, the history major mixed his basketball preparations with a 10-week internship as a summer analyst in the fixed-income department at Credit Suisse in Manhattan.
"When I come back, I want to go and work on Wall Street, then maybe go to law school," he said. "I have a lot of options out there, maybe Goldman Sachs or maybe back to Credit Suisse."
While many Duke basketball players have dreams of the NBA and use their time with head coach Mike Krzyzewski refining their skills on the court, Melchionni said his experience with the Hall-of-Fame coach has taught him about leadership and character.
"It's been like the American Express commercial," the senior said. "I epitomize that. I came to play for Coach K and I got so much more out of it than the basketball. Basketball was great, but I'm armed for life now."
Because Melchionni arrived at Duke with the likes of J.J. Redick, Shelden Williams, Michael Thompson, Shavlik Randolph and Sean Dockery, Krzyzewski was unable to offer Melchionni a scholarship. A now-defunct NCAA rule prevented coaches then from awarding more than five scholarships in a single recruiting class. Melchionni agreed to walk on to the Blue Devils as a freshman.
"I am so blessed and so grateful to have come to Duke," Melchionni said. "Everything I've done here has exceeded my limits of what I thought I could do for myself."
Melchionni became a scholarship player his sophomore season and saw twice as much playing time as he did in his freshman campaign. By his junior year, he had worked his way into Krzyzewski's regular rotation. And before this past season, Melchionni was named as one of four team captains along with fellow seniors Redick, Williams and Dockery.
After his graduation, Melchionni said he does not want to be too quick booking his ticket to Europe. Rather, he wants a shot to join some of his classmates in the NBA.
"J.J. and Shelden will both be lottery picks and I couldn't be more excited for them, maybe they'll lend me some money," Melchionni joked. "It's a long shot for me, but I'd like to go to some NBA tryouts. In the long run, I realize basketball isn't the end-all for me and that I need to go into the real world."
Although Melchionni may not make a name for himself in professional athletics, he has high aspirations of achieving political fame after making millions on Wall Street.
"Ultimately, I want to be a Senator for Pennsylvania, but that's a long way off," he said. "I'm young and want to see the world, see where that takes me."
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