Ledo Situation Coming to a Head?

The saga that has been hanging over the heads of Providence fans for a year seems to be coming to a head.

Ricardo Ledo committed to Providence the week after Labor Day last September, and those that didn’t realize they were in for a year of speculation weren’t listening closely enough.

The first line from ESPN’s Andy Katz the day that Ledo committed?  “New Providence coach Ed Cooley has his backcourt set for 2012-13, if the eligibility for highly touted local talent Ricardo Ledo can be worked out.”

Before any mention of his talent, his national ranking, his high school numbers, or his potential impact in 2012-13, came the eligibility question.

With Ledo it seemed even more prevalent than with other elite prospects who attended multiple high schools – a troubling precursor in the current state of college basketball.  We are, after all, living in a world in which nearly 50% of the top 100 recruits in the class of 2011 attended multiple high schools.

Late last week CBS Sports’ Jeff Goodman tweeted that he would be “extremely surprised” if Ledo were to be deemed eligible, later noting that he had heard such from several different sources.

Unconfirmed rumors continued to pop up on Twitter from non-media sources Saturday, heightening the panic among a Providence fan base that is convinced it just can’t catch a break.

In order for Ledo to qualify he reportedly would need a waiver, as the NCAA requires that freshmen-eligible student-athletes complete high school courses in eight semesters.  From what I’ve been told this weekend, all indications are Ledo will not receive this waiver, leaving him with the final option of appealing the decision.

There is precedent for successful appeals.  In 2010, Will Barton did not receive a waiver, but won his appeal, as Dan Wolken of the Commercial Appeal explained at the time, “it is believed his appeal was based on information from early in his high school career that the NCAA Eligibility Center missed in its initial ruling. That’s actually fairly common in cases like Barton’s, where more than 2,000 pages of documentation were submitted along with his transcript.”

How realistic a successful appeal might be is unclear, but what is apparent is the loss of Ledo, the local star recruit, would be a devastating blow for the Friars.

Email Kevin at kevin.farrahar@friarbasketball.com 

You must be logged in to post a comment Login