Syracuse, N.Y. -- A few weeks ago, as he was working on his game in the Melo Center, Demetris Nichols was approached by Shaun Belbey. Belbey, the Syracuse basketball walk-on, had been observing Nichols. And he made what Nichols believed to be an audacious claim.
"I think I can get you back into the NBA," Belbey told him.
Nichols, who was about to turn 34 and had spent the bulk of his playing career overseas, was understandably skeptical. But Belbey persisted. One late night, when Nichols and his daughter were leaving Melo, he ran into Belbey again.