Decisions To Be Made On/By Ledo Soon
Monday, August 13, 2012
With the start of another college basketball season just a couple of months away, the Providence College men’s basketball coach Ed Cooley and his star recruit Ricky Ledo sit and wait patiently for THE decision.
Rumor has it that a decision from the NCAA clearing house on Ledo’s eligibility could be coming sooner rather than later. But the fact of the matter is that nobody really knows when a decision will be coming down.
By now we all know the details of Ledo’s situation. He attended four high schools making his transcript a difficult one to decipher. GoLocalProv.com has learned that Ledo does have a qualifying SAT score, but players are judged on a combination of that result and their GPA in qualifying curriculum.
GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLASTDepending upon the ruling of the NCAA’s clearing house, there are many different scenarios that could play out. Here’s a look at some of them:
1.) Obviously, the best-case scenario for PC and for Ledo would be that he is ruled a full qualifier. That would allow Ledo to enroll at PC as a scholarship player where he could practice and play with the team right away as a freshman. Ed Cooley and every single Friars fan hope that this is the scenario that plays itself out.
2.) Another possibility that could take place would be similar to that of Kiwi Gardner. Gardner was ruled a partial qualifier by the NCAA clearing house last year which meant that he was allowed to attend Providence College on scholarship, but he could not practice, play or participate in strength conditioning with the team. If scenario #1 does not come to fruition, you would have to imagine that Cooley would prefer this as a second option so that Ledo would be on campus and a part of the program and not open to recruiting by other programs once again.
3.) For these next few options, this is where it gets tricky. First off, if the fall semester starts at PC with no ruling handed down from the clearing house, Ledo and his family will have some important decisions to make. Ledo could choose to attend PC while awaiting the decision. However, if the clearing house were to rule him a non-qualifier, he and his family would be responsible for whatever room, board and tuition costs were accrued to that point. When you consider the fact that the cost to attend Providence College is estimated to be about $55,000 per year, even a prorated amount could add up to quite a sizeable chunk of change for the Ledo family to come up with. Conversely, if the ruling were to come down in Ledo’s favor a month or so into the semester, it would essentially be no harm, no foul as he would be considered a student-athlete on scholarship at the school.
4.) If there is no ruling by the time the fall semester starts at PC or if he is ruled a non-qualifier, Ledo and his family will also have to decide what would be their best course of action. It is likely that he would attend junior college which could potentially open up a whole new can or worms. Interestingly enough, Ledo has been playing this summer at CCRI with some of the Knights men’s basketball players who made it all the way to the NJCAA Division 2 National Championship last season. Would that familiarity with players like the talented Desmond Williams be enough to persuade Ledo to attend CCRI? Who knows? Let’s also remember that Ledo may, in fact, also want to stay close to home to play in front of family and friends which could also help a program like CCRI land him. However, there will be other marquee junior college programs like a Monroe Community College in New York that would likely make a strong run at him too. Friar fans remember that school for having produced big man Orlando Sanchez who was heavily recruited by PC but chose to attend St. John’s instead. If Ledo were to attend a school like that you would think that it would open up his recruitment even more so than it would if he were playing in Rhode Island close to PC.
5.) It is also possible that if Ledo were to be ruled a non-qualifier, that he could play one year of junior college basketball or play overseas and turn pro. Some believe that Ledo may go to Puerto Rico and play for a year before turning pro. The current NBA rule for a player turning pro prohibits entry into the league until a player turns 19 or a year after his high school class graduates. Those who have seen Ledo play agree that he is extremely talented but could use a year or two of seasoning at the college level. However, there are some mock drafts like Jeff Goodman’s on CBSsports.com that have Ledo raked as high as 12th among potential NBA draft prospects for next year.
In the end, there are many different ways that the Ricky Ledo saga could play out. For now, however, it remains a waiting game for all involved but the clock is winding down and decisions will need to be made soon.
