Illinois transfer R.J. Melendez has only been with the Georgia basketball team for a few months, but already he feels very much at home.
“Yeah, definitely. I’ve been here all summer being involved with the team and sharing time with them on and off the court. It feels like I’ve been here my whole college career, and it’s just great to be part of the family now,” Melendez said. “It’s just good to be around, and it feels great to be a Bulldog.”
The feeling is undoubtedly mutual.
Melendez is one of five transfers brought into the program during the offseason by head coach Mike White, whose Bulldogs are a month away from their Nov. 6 season-opener in Las Vegas against Oregon.
In the short time he’s been a part of the program, Melendez says there’s one common denominator he’s noticed. Actually there's two.
“It’s toughness, and competitive. Every single person on this team is a competitor. Everybody hates losing. Even if it’s a small three-minute scrimmage between us, if there’s a bad call everybody will argue because we’re just trying to win,” Melendez said. “But just as a team, I feel like toughness and competitiveness. Everybody plays hard every single day even though it’s not the game, but you know they’re going to bring it all.”
Melendez (6-foot-7, 205 pounds) certainly fits that description after he started 18 games for the Illini this past season, including the first 10 games of the season, and averaged 6.0 points and 3.5 rebounds per game.
He has two years of eligibility remaining.
A native of Puerto Rico, Melendez signed with Illinois in the class of 2021 out of Central Pointe Christian Academy in Florida. Rivals.com ranked him No. 120 overall nationally and the No. 26 small forward.
Melendez, who battled a shoulder injury for much of the year, struggled with his outside shot this season, making just 24-of-91 shots from beyond the arc. Still, he was considered a key piece to the roster in 2023-24 before putting his name in the portal.
There was already plenty of familiarity with the Bulldog staff when he did.
“I would say Coach White and (Erik) Pastrana’s consistency since I was in high school. Coach White was my first offer when he was at UF and Coach Pastrana was my second when he was at OSU (Oklahoma State),” Melendez said. “So, them still being interested in me and being the first ones to reach out and always being consistent really helped with building my faith in them. It really helped me a lot knowing that they still believed in me and that I could join their program.”
Since arriving in Athens, Melendez said the team appears to have bonded quicker than some may imagine. The team’s recent trip to Italy played a role in that, and since returning to Athens, players have continued to grow even closer.
“I feel like everything, just getting to know your teammates, their backgrounds, and everything. But even the coaches, they come at us and they’re very friendly,” Melendez said. “Whenever it’s time to work, it’s time to work, but off the court, everybody is just like a family. We treat everybody like brothers, so you never feel a moment where you feel left out. You’re always in the group or part of it, so it feels great.”
Melendez also brings something to Athens few players on the team have – NCAA Tournament experience.
White has not been shy about laying that postseason carrot out as a goal for this year’s team, something Melendez believes he and his teammates should absolutely aspire to earn.
“It’s a long season. We’ve just got to take it day by day. We have to make sure that for these big games that we’ve got early in the season, we lock in early and don’t make mental mistakes because if we mess up early in the season it could affect a bid in the tournament,” he said. “But we’ve got to go day by day, game by game, and I feel like the coaches have a really good plan for us and we’ve got a really good team.”
