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Ricky Ledo to the NBA Draft? Sidiki Johnson off the team? Providence hits rough patch

Sidiki Johnson

Ed Cooley is building a solid foundation for future success at Providence. He had one of the top recruiting classes in the country last year. His program is moves to a more stable, basketball-only conference soon. But he is running into two major bumps in the road that could set the progress back significantly, depending on how things play out.

As was reported by Kevin McNamara of the Providence Journal, redshirt freshman Ricky Ledo is weighing the possibility of not returning to Providence next season. Ledo, a Top 25 recruit from the Class of 2012, was ruled a partial qualifier by the NCAA and forced out of games this season. Instead of returning in 2013-14, Ledo could enter the NBA Draft.

“My status is unclear,” Ledo said, as reported by the Journal. “College is a great preparation for life and college has already taught me a lot. I’m looking at every option, both staying in school and looking at the draft.”

Draft Express projects Ledo would not be selected in this year’s NBA Draft, but could go in the late first round of the 2014 draft.

We have seen two key players return to school after being ruled partial qualifiers, Arizona State’s Jahii Carson and Kansas’ Ben McLemore, both of whom are now on track to win Rookie of the Year in their respective conferences.

As the Ledo news came down, Jeff Goodman of CBSSports.com reported that Arizona transfer Sidiki Johnson is “off the team” to deal with personal issues. Johnson came to Providence mid-way through last season after being asked to leave the Wildcats.

Johnson, a 6-10 native of New York, had been averaging 3.9 points and 5.1 rebounds per game for the Friars. He did not play in Providence’s overtime loss to Connecticut on Thursday.

Providence returns to the floor against Villanova on Sunday at noon ET.

Daniel Martin is a writer and editor at JohnnyJungle.com, covering St. John’s. You can find him on Twitter:@DanielJMartin_