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Leticia Romero and “Releases”

Writing for the Daily News Journal, Adam Sparks reports on an interesting twist in the staring contest between Kansas State and Leticia Romero:

But according to reports, Kansas State accidentally gave permission for Middle Tennessee State University to contact Romero because of a “clerical error” — meaning the Lady Raiders are apparently the only program in the country with an open door to talk to the prized guard about a possible transfer.

What it sounds like is that Romero presented an extensive list of schools to Kansas State, who then denied permission to contact by listing the schools Romero had provided. MTSU was omitted from that denial. By the time KSU noticed the mistake, the seven-day window to respond to Romero’s request for permission to contact MTSU had passed. Under NCAA rules, that means permission was automatically granted.

But there is still confusion about K-State’s ability to block or frustrate Romero’s attempt to transfer, especially in regards to this new development with Middle Tennessee State:

Kansas State still has not released Romero, a native of Las Palmas, Spain, from her scholarship, but it is believed she will visit Murfreesboro within the next two weeks.

If she was granted a transfer, Romero would have to sit out one season, per NCAA rule, and then have three seasons of eligibility remaining.

If these reports about the accidental grant of permission to contact Middle Tennessee State are true, Romero has everything she needs from Kansas State to transfer to MTSU. There is no such thing as a “release from a scholarship.” There are additional releases and permissions that an athlete might need like a release from the NLI or permission to use the one-time transfer exception but neither apply to Romero.

Alma College Sports Recruiting.


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