MANHATTAN — Kansas State athletic director John Currie is working to grant Leticia Romero a conditional release from her basketball scholarship, according to ESPN’s “Outside the Lines.”
Currie wrote to a Kansas State’s appeals committee, led by K-State Vice President of Student Life Pat Bosco, on May 5 asking it to reconsider its ruling to deny Romero a release from her athletic scholarship, according to the ESPN report.
In the letter, Currie wrote that he had concerns about tampering from K-State’s former women’s basketball coaching staff, but that new information had come to light in the transfer case. He also wrote: “I believe it is in this student-athlete’s best interest for the committee to reconvene to consider this new information and potentially approve her request for a conditional transfer release.”
Romero, from Las Palmas, Spain, was the Wildcats’ top women’s basketball player a year ago. As a freshman, she led the team in scoring (14.2 points), rebounds (5.8), assists (4.9) and minutes (32.6) last season as a freshman. She was chosen Big 12 Freshman of the Week four times.
But she asked for a release from her scholarship shortly after K-State fired the coach she signed with, Deb Patterson, and hired Jeff Mittie as her replacement. She decided her playing style wasn’t a good fit with her new coach. But her request was denied by K-State officials. She then appealed that ruling before a committee last month, and was once again denied.
Without a scholarship release, Romero can still enroll at another school, but she won’t be eligible for an athletic scholarship for a year.
Her fight to transfer has made national headlines. “Outside the Lines” will feature her during its 2 p.m. broadcast Wednesday. A preview of the story is online.
Romero told the program that she presented K-State with a list of approximately 100 schools when she initially asked for her transfer. K-State’s compliance office denied her release to all of them. She said K-State has since allowed programs not on her initial list of schools to contact her, but she only has interest in those 100 schools.
Earlier this month, it was announced that Patterson was hired as an assistant coach by new Northern Colorado coach Kamie Ethridge, a former K-State assistant. Ethridge’s staff also includes former Wildcat assistants Shalee Lehning, as associate head coach, and Kelly Moylan. Romero told “Outside the Lines” she won’t transfer to Northern Colorado.
Romero said she met with Currie after her appeal was denied. Romero told “Outside the Lines” that Currie said his hands were tied on the matter.
“What he said was, ‘I want you to be released,’ ” Romero told “Outside the Lines.” “ ‘Coach Mittie wants you to be released. The athletic department wants you to be released. But now this is not on my hands. It’s in the committee’s hands. I can’t do anything about it.’ ”
Read more here:
http://www.kansas.com/2014/05/21/3467286/report-currie-working-to-grant.html#storylink=cpy
