Leticia Romero

This name uses Spanish naming customs: the first or paternal family name is Romero and the second or maternal family name is González.
Leticia Romero
No. 10 – Florida State Seminoles
Position Guard
League ACC
Personal information
Born May 28, 1995
Las Palmas, Canary Islands, Spain
Nationality Spanish
Listed height 5 ft 8 in (1.73 m)
Career information
High school I.E.S. Joaquín Artiles
College Kansas State (2013–14)
Florida State (2014–present)
Career highlights and awards
  • Big 12 All-Freshman Team (2014)
  • All-Big 12 Second Team (2014)
  • All-ACC Second Team (2015)

Leticia Romero González[1] (born 28 May 1995) is a Spanish basketball player for Florida State University and the Spanish national team, where she participated at the 2014 FIBA World Championship.[2]

U.S. college career

Romero, a native of the Canary Islands, was widely sought after by major U.S. college programs going into the 2013–14 season, ultimately choosing to play at Kansas State largely because of her rapport with the coaching staff. At the time, she was not fully comfortable with English, and according to ESPN journalist Mechelle Voepel, was "seeking a place she would feel taken care of and safe."[3] While the Wildcats only finished 11–19 in her freshman season, she enjoyed considerable personal success, averaging 14.2 points, 5.8 rebounds, and 5.0 assists per game[4] on her way to being named unanimously to the Big 12 Conference all-freshman team and also earning second-team All-Big 12 honors.[5]

After the end of the season, Romero, according to Voepel, "became a cause célèbre in the debate about student-athlete rights, athletic department power and politics, and the NCAA's role in all of it."[3] The firing of Kansas State head coach Deb Patterson and departure of all her assistants left Romero uncomfortable with staying at the school. She asked for permission to transfer to another school.[3] Kansas State officials refused to grant a release, which in turn meant that she could not accept a scholarship from an NCAA school for the year she was required to sit out under NCAA rules.[6] At the time, Kansas State claimed that athletic department policy did not allow the granting of releases under those circumstances; the department was heavily criticized in the national media for its stance, and was also embarrassed when a "clerical error" allowed Middle Tennessee to contact her, which according to Sports Illustrated writer Andy Staples "essentially foiled their plans to keep her in Manhattan."[6] That May, the school relented, releasing her to seek a new destination.[3][6]

Shortly after Romero received her release, she received a call from Sue Semrau, head coach at Florida State, one of the schools she had visited during her original recruitment. The two quickly reconnected, and as Romero considered her options, she found herself drawn to the Seminoles' style of play and willing to meet the expectations Semrau was setting for the program. She then enrolled at FSU, initially planning to sit out the 2014–15 season due to NCAA transfer regulations.[3]

Given the situation surrounding Romero's transfer from Kansas State, Florida State petitioned the NCAA for a waiver to allow her to play after the end of Kansas State's 2014 fall academic term. Semrau had told Romero that the chances of a successful petition were low. Since Romero could not travel with the team as a redshirting transfer, she went to her home of Las Palmas for a short Christmas break. During that time, the NCAA granted the petition, allowing her to immediately play for the Seminoles.[3]

Despite missing the first 13 games of the 2014–15 season, she was second on the team in assists, also averaging 10.1 points and 5.3 rebounds in the regular season while being named to the all-Atlantic Coast Conference second team.[7]

References

  1. ↑ "#10: Leticia Romero". Florida State Seminoles. Retrieved March 8, 2015. Daughter of Domingo José Romero and Isabel González
  2. ↑ "FIBA profile". fiba.com. Retrieved 27 September 2014.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 Voepel, Mechelle (March 4, 2015). "Romero finds right fit at Florida State". ESPNW. Retrieved March 8, 2015.
  4. ↑ "2013–14 Kansas State Women's Basketball Season Statistics". Kansas State Athletics. Retrieved March 8, 2014.
  5. ↑ "2013-14 Phillips 66 All-Big 12 Women's Basketball Awards Announced" (Press release). Big 12 Conference. March 6, 2014. Retrieved March 8, 2015.
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 Staples, Andy (March 23, 2015). "How to fix the NCAA's outdated transfer rules; Punt, Pass & Pork". Sports Illustrated. Retrieved March 23, 2015.
  7. ↑ "The 2014–15 All-ACC Women's Basketball Team Announced" (Press release). Atlantic Coast Conference. March 3, 2015. Retrieved March 8, 2015.