Once Ricardo Ratliffe steps on the court, all eyes are watching the power forward for his next move as he is the top JUCO (Junior College) player in the nation, as reported by numerous scouting websites. Ratliffe is attending the Central Florida Community College as he is the major focus of the college basketball recruiting news.
The 6’9 240 pound power forward out of Kecoughtan High School in Virginia has narrowed his long list of choices for the upcoming 2010-2011 season as March Madness rolls around. He has narrowed his college choices down to Florida, Alabama, Arkansas, Clemson, South Carolina, LSU and Missouri. The Gators have just recently showed a large interest to the top JUCO player, who just 40 miles down the road from the House of Horror in Gainesville.
Richard Burton of Gatorsports.com reports Ratliffe saying, “When I first got (to CFCC), (Florida) was recruiting me, but then they kind of backed off for awhile because they thought they had what they needed inside.They thought they had the toughness and overall good play inside, but as the season went on, they realized they needed tougher players and players who would go after rebounds.” This means that the Gators are not stopping the pursuit for Ratliffe until he has faxed in his Letter of Intent. The Gators are trying to make up loss time, reported by Ratliffe, as they are trying to reel him in for the upcoming season before any other school has the opportunity to.
Ratliffe is showing a huge liking to Florida as he was seen at the Florida versus Kentucky game and also the LSU game recently. Ratliffe also attended the Gators’ open gym this past summer. Ratliffe seems as if he could possibly be looking forward the short journey to Gainesville to continue his success as an elite basketball player. Although, coming to Florida will not be an easy job, as he will have to fight and work hard for a starting spot playing for the Gators.
Other coaches who were previously affiliated with the Gators are now in the hunt for Ratliffe as well. Anthony Grant, the former Gator assistant coach and the current Crimson Tide head coach, was in the hunt for Ratliffe in his sophomore of high school season while he was in Virginia. Arkansas coach and previous assistant coach at Florida, John Pelphrey, is also in persuit of the JUCO standout. Ratliffe is unable to sign with a university until April 14th. Until then, it will be up to the top recruiters in the nation to try to sway Ratliffe their way.
I got a chance to witness Ratliffe play this season in Ocala, and what a player he is. I remember the gym was always packed from people waiting to see him play. Also when I entered the gym one night there were several college coaches there scouting Ratliffe. Two of the coaches that I saw and had a chance to talk to were Mike Anderson from Missouri and head coach John Pelphrey over at Arkansas.
Below is a short video interview of Ratliffe that was taken inside of a room in the gymnasium at CFCC.

