COLUMBUS, Ohio – I just got into a hotel room in Columbus after the two-hour or so drive from Cincinnati – where I spent all day at the adidas AAU tournament.

I will head to Akron in a few hours to catch the LeBron James Skills Academy – which is loaded with elite players and is also an event that’s closed to college coaches.

While the talent from a player perspective was somewhat lackluster in Cincinnati, it seemed as though most of the college coaches were in attendance.

The most impressive player was also the biggest draw of the day – Brazilian 6-foot-11 big man Fab Melo – who is ranked as Scout.com’s No. 5 player in the Class of 2010.

Melo didn’t play high school ball this past season and has gained about 25 or so pounds in the past year or so. He’s strong, athletic and skilled – and is a rarity: a legitimate center in a class clearly lacking big men.

Melo’s list is the following: Louisville, Syracuse, UConn, Texas, Florida, Florida State and Miami. However, sources indicate that Louisville is the leader.

Two schools that had a couple of coaches in attendance were Kentucky and Georgetown.

The overwhelming consensus among coaches was that they were well behind usual at the start of the July period since they weren’t allowed to go out and watch in April.

``It feels like April right now,” one coach said. ``We’re all just trying to find out where to go and who we like.”

Usually, this time of year is reserved for babysitting kids. But with the absence of April, most coaches are evaluating and many were frustrated in Cincinnati when targets didn’t quite live up to the hype.

``If you’re sitting here and know what you are doing, you probably did some back-alley recruiting in May,” another added.

Head coaches will likely have to make quicker decisions on players – which will, in turn, likely lead to more mistakes and an increase in transfers.

RANDOM NOTES: If you see Texas assistant Chris Ogden, make sure to ask him to revisit the bike ride with Longhorns head coach Rick Barnes in which he needed to call a taxi to take him and his bike back home.