Troi Melton’s patience paid off. The Cardinal Spellman senior wing had a bevy of Division I interest, but she wasn’t going to settle for anything less than the perfect fit.
“I’m not going to rush full ahead into anything,” Melton told The Post. “I’m going to wait and see and wait out my options and see what I have and what I know for certain that this is what I wanted.”
She left her team’s win against Blessed Sacrament Friday, after scoring five points, grabbing five rebounds and four assists in the first quarter, to hop on a flight. Melton was taking a visit to Boston University in search of the best combination of athletics and academics. By Saturday she had verbally committed to the America East school, picking it over Winthrop and Wagner.
“At first I was kind of nervous saying, ‘Yeah I want to come here,’” she said. “But then after I said it I was happy. I know where I am going to school now. I was just happy to be done. I don’t have to worry about it.”
Melton, who wants to study physical therapy and athletic training, is admittedly a quiet person and said she was minding her own business early in the trip. But quickly she became more comfortable. She watched the team practice and hung out with the players in the locker room and after. Everyone at the school was welcoming and Melton got the feeling that BU was where she wanted be over a few scoops of Cold Stone ice cream Saturday night.
“When she plays the game she can be impatient at times, but when it comes to decisions off the court I just felt like her patience led to her finding that right fit,” said Rock Rosa, her New Heights travel team coach. “I feel like it has a really good academic reputation as well as a basketball program. Troi will be able to make an impact and continue to grow.”
The Terriers, who lost in the first round of the WNIT a season ago, are off to a 10-9 start and are unbeaten in conference (7-0) under seventh-year coach Kelly Greenberg. Melton was impressed with how much the coaches cared for the players, their work ethic and that which they demanded from their players. New Heights reached out to the school and it started recruiting the 5-foot-9 Melton in October.
“I like the fact that the girls go after it in practice,” she said. “They fight harder. They are pushing to make each other better.”
Better is what Melton got each season. She burst on the scene as a sophomore during the Archdiocesan Class A playoffs With the Pilots star point guard out with injury she stepped up and became a 20-point scorer. As a junior she began to pair her superior athletic ability with an improved jump shot. She scored her 1,000th career point as she helped Spellman, currently ranked No. 9 in the CHSAA by The Post, reach the Archdiocesan final and CHSAA Class A state quarterfinals. A relentless work ethic made it possible for her to become one of the city’s most complete players.
“As I walked out the gym, mom is sitting in the car,” Rosa said. “I’d have to go back down to the gym. ‘Troi. It’s time to go, Troi. Your mother is outside.’ ‘OK, OK, Coach let me get five more [shots].’ That was always Troi.”
Melton admitted there were times that she doubted that she would find the right school for her. But she never paniced and got tremendous support from her family.
“There were times where I started thinking, ‘Oh my goodness I might not get a school,'” Melton said, “but my dad was like, ‘You are going to get a school.” That kept me positive.”
Her patience paid off.
