Ledo Deemed Partial Qualifier: Where does PC go from here?

As first reported by Kevin McNamara of the Providence Journal, Providence star freshman Ricardo Ledo has been ruled a partial qualifier who will be allowed to practice with the team this season, but will not be able to play.

Finally, the Friar faithful can move on from the seemingly endless saga centered around the Providence native.  Even before he committed to PC there were questions about Ledo’s potential eligibility in 2012, after he switched schools four times in five years, and word began leaking last week that Ledo was ruled ineligible, but would try for one final appeal to the NCAA.

So, where do Friar fans go from here?  The dream freshman backcourt of Ledo and McDonald’s All American Kris Dunn won’t take the floor together for another year, with fans also having to wait until at least December to watch Dunn, who is on the mend from shoulder surgery to repair a torn labrum and bone fracture.

Ledo told Scott Cordischi of GoLocalProv yesterday that he is planning on playing for Providence next season, a hope Friar fans will have to cling to throughout 2012 and the better part of 2013.  Ledo and incoming transfers Tyler Harris and Carson Desrosiers would certainly give anyone on the active roster all they can handle in a 3 on 3 tournament, and over the course of the next year their roles will be resigned to helping the Friars in practice.

While waiting on a group that could be potentially very dangerous in 2013-14, the current roster may lack depth but shouldn’t lack for story lines.  Bryce Cotton proved himself to be one of the best three-point shooters in the conference last season and should continue to progress, Kadeem Batts will look to rebound after missing the first semester and never really finding his footing last year, and green youngsters Josh Fortune and Brice Kofane will try to carve out a niche.

Providence should get a much-needed frontcourt boost in December when former top 100 recruit Sidiki Johnson joins the club for the second semester as well.

But the three truly intriguing stories will belong to Dunn, sophomore forward LaDontae Henton and senior leader Vincent Council.

With all of the talk of Ledo’s status over the past couple of weeks, it’s easy to forget that PC will receive a huge lift when they welcome a McDonald’s All American for the first time in 17 years.  With only Council and Cotton as returning guards, Dunn should step into huge minutes right away, providing athleticism and speed rarely seen in a Providence guard.  Friar fans will be drawn to the aggression and speed which Dunn plays with on both ends of the floor.

Henton has the best numbers of any returning sophomore in the Big East.  His monster freshman season was lost a bit in a 4-14 conference campaign, but the Michigan native was a consistent double double threat in his first season – one who shot just shy of 40% from three point range last year.  Can he make the leap from one of the best freshmen in the Big East to one of its best players?

And then there’s Council.  It’s hard not to feel for the Providence point guard who is the best passer fans outside of the Big East have never seen.  He’ll once again be asked to get creative with a less than deep core around him, but he’s certainly capable of finding teammates easy baskets.  Council has seen his share of turnover in his four years at Providence (both roster and coaching staff), and this looked like it could have been the best offensive unit he’s played with since his freshman year.  He’s set to finish near the top of PC’s rankings in assists and minutes played, but his legacy may be determined by how he leads a team that has yet to win more than four conference games in his career.

Friarbasketball.com will have more coverage of each of these players throughout the rest of our “20 in 60” series.

For the first time in quite a while we now know what the Friars will go forward with.  It won’t be with Ledo, but it also won’t be without intrigue.  As Cooley noted to Cordischi yesterday, “Friar fans should know that regardless of what happens with Ricky, we’re having a season this year. We’ll have five Friars out on the floor this winter.”

Email Kevin at kevin.farrahar@friarbasketball.com

You must be logged in to post a comment Login