The ceremony will take place at halftime of the opener for the 2010-2011 CF men's basketball season. The game begins at 7:30 p.m. and will be held in the CF Gymnasium at the Ocala Campus, 3001 S.W. College Road.
“Ricardo is now a major part of College of Central Florida history, and we’re thrilled that he will be with us as we honor his amazing career in a Patriot uniform,” said CF Director of Athletics Bob Zelinski. “We expect his jersey, and the legacy it symbolizes, to serve as a constant source of inspiration to future classes of Patriot student-athletes.”
CF President, Dr. Charles Dassance said: “Ricardo has made us all very proud and we are pleased to recognize his accomplishments in this way.”
Ratliffe, now entering his junior season at the University of Missouri, collected unprecedented accolades in his two seasons as a Patriot. As a freshman, the Hampton, Va., native set the school’s single-season scoring record with 798 points, earning first-team All-State honors from the Florida Community College Activities Association and first-team All-American status from the National Junior College Athletic Association. By the start of his sophomore season, the 6-8 power forward was considered the premier two-year college prospect in the country by a consensus of national recruiting services.
Even while navigating an intense recruiting process involving some of the premier programs in the NCAA, Ratliffe turned in a sophomore season that more than lived up to his growing reputation. He again set the school’s single-season scoring mark with 855 points, producing a career total of 1,653 points that shattered a CF record that had stood since 1985. He was named the FCCAA Male Student-Athlete of the Year and a first-team NJCAA All-American for a second consecutive season, then collected the highest individual honor presented by the NJCAA: the David Rowlands Male Student-Athlete of the Year Award, selected from all competitive men’s sports across the NJCAA’s 525 member schools nationwide.
CF also enjoyed remarkable team success in Ratliffe’s two seasons. The Patriots finished a combined 47-18, including a 15-3 Mid-Florida Conference record, while claiming an MFC championship and making consecutive FCCAA/NJCAA Region VIII Tournament appearances. Prior to the 2009-2010 season, CF earned national attention with a No. 1 ranking in the NJCAA Division I Men's Basketball Preseason Poll.
Ratliffe will continue to be a source of pride for CF fans as his promising career moves forward. He has already added to his list of awards at the NCAA level as the Preseason Big 12 Newcomer of the Year, a product of the significant and immediate impact he is expected to have in one of the nation’s most competitive conferences for the nationally ranked Missouri Tigers.
