From an athletic perspective, Melvin Alaeze had it all. Now the justice system has him.
At 277 pounds, he could run 40 meters in 4.5 seconds. He could bench-press 225 pounds 22 times. Every college in the country, including national champion Southern California, wanted him.
“The sky was the limit for Melvin,” said Albert Howard, who coached Alaeze at Randallstown High School, where he was ranked as the No. 1 defensive end in the country.
But instead of the college football field ? and maybe the NFL ? Alaeze will be spending at least the next four years in prison, a Baltimore County judge ruled Wednesday.
Circuit Judge John Turnbull sentenced Alaeze to 8 years behind bars after the football standout pleaded guilty to committing a first-degree assault. Alaeze admitted participating in a Dec. 24, 2006, shooting and robbery in Randallstown in which a man was shot and wounded in the head and back.
Under Maryland law, Alaeze cannot be released from prison for a violent crime until he has served half his sentence.
“Most people had him athletically as a lock for the NFL,” said Sheldon Shealer, the editor of MDVarsity.com and foremost expert on Maryland high school football. “It?s a pretty sad story for Baltimore and for him specifically. A lot of people were pulling for him to do something special. Obviously that?s not going to happen.”
While in high school, Alaeze was named first team All-American by USA Today, first team all-state, and was ranked as the No. 1 defensive end in the country by ESPN.com.
“He had incredible speed and agility for his size,” Shealer said. “If he could ever get himself squared away academically, just about any university was going to roll out the red carpet to him.”
Alaeze?s former coach said he still thinks his star athlete can turn his life around.
“I still believe in Melvin,” Howard said. “He was a great kid for me. My feeling for him hasn?t changed.”
