Meléndez was born in the city of Ponce, Puerto Rico,[1] but was raised in the town of Juana Díaz, where he also received his primary and secondary education.

Through an exchange student program, he was able to play at McDowell High School in Marion, North Carolina, where he finished his senior year.

There he began his college basketball career by playing for the North Carolina Tar Heels, where he appeared in the Final Fours in 1998 and 2000.

He played for: In 2007, Sam Worthen, the former Chicago Bulls and New Orleans Jazz guard, coached professionally in Puerto Rico.

That distinction belongs to Orlando Antigua, whose mother is Puerto Rican and who in 1995 made Globetrotters history by becoming the first Hispanic and non-black to play for the team.