Carmona Heads Home
Alex Carmona, one of the top prospects from the Midwest Class of 2002, bid adieu to Ohio as he headed back to his home in Puerto Rico Tuesday morning.
The 6-5, 210 pound small forward, who played last year at Troy (OH) High School, ran into eligibiliy problems when he and his legal guardians had a falling out. The Ohio High School Athletic Association in October denied his appeal to be eligible for interscholastic athletics this year for Troy.
Advertisement
Last month Carmona verbally committed to Oliver Purnell's Dayton Flyers program even through the Atlantic 10 school was out of scholarship slots. Earlier there were indications he was headed to Memphis.
Giddel Padilla, the Puerto Rican mentor who helped Carmona come to Troy from Puerto Rico in 1999, came to Troy High School and spoke with Carmona Monday. Carmona filled out the necessary paperwork to withdraw from school that same day.
Tuesday morning, Carmona and Padilla flew to Puerto Rico. Tuesday night, Padilla told Dayton Daily News reporter Mark Gokavi that he and Carmona were in Puerto Rico and that he would help Carmona enroll in a San Juan-area high school in the next couple of days.
Gokavi interviewed Troy businessman Bob Lybarger, with whom Carmona has been living with and working for. Lybarger is outraged at how Troy High School officials handled the situation. "Neither my wife or I got a courtesy phone call from the school informing us of what was going on, knowing the assistance letter (giving the Lybarger's permission to look over administrative paperwork for Carmona) was in place," Lybarger said. "If this would have happened, I would have to believe (Alex) would be with us today."
Lybarger said he believes Carmona's recent college decision may have had something to do with Carmona's return to Puerto Rico. "By the way, it's interesting to note how all of this has transpired given his decision to attend the University of Dayton over any other university or college," Lybarger told Troy Daily News reporter David Fong. "In my opinion, this incident has made my wife and I believe the Troy administration couldn't fill out the paperwork fast enough. I am surprised they didn't offer to call him a cab to take him to the airport."
Lyberger said when he did speak with Carmona, the young man was very upset. "He had been told information that had him concerned enough that he should return to Puerto Rico as soon as possible," said Lyberger who believed that information which involved the legal fight to regain eligibility was untrue.
At the same time, Carmona's lawyer, Bill Fulker of Troy, was still working as late as Monday afternoon on gaining Carmona's eligibility with OHSAA.
In another strange twist, Deb and Curt Grant, Carmona's Ohio guardians, had a reunion with Carmona before he boarded the plane. "It was wonderful to see him and give him a big hug and a kiss on each cheek," said Deb Grant, adding it had been several months since she's talked to Carmona.