Ricardo Julio Ledo is an American professional basketball player. He committed to play for the Providence Friars, but the National Collegiate Athletic Association ruled him academically ineligible to play during his freshman season in 2012–13. Ledo never played a minute for the Friars that season, and at the end of the year he declared he was entering the 2013 NBA draft.
Ledo was rated the #21 overall college prospect by ESPN and was a McDonald's All-American. He committed to play for Providence College in his home state of Rhode Island. In September of his freshman year, the NCAA ruled him academically ineligible due to not having enough credits. He stayed at school with the hope that he would be eligible during the second semester, but the NCAA never reinstated him.
After spending one year at Providence without being able to play, Ledo declared for the 2013 NBA draft. Despite never playing a single game in his career with Providence, he is still credited by the NBA as a player that came out of Providence as opposed to high school. Ledo was selected by the Milwaukee Bucks with the 43rd overall pick in the 2013 NBA draft. His draft rights were then traded to the Philadelphia 76ers and finally to the Dallas Mavericks. On July 24, 2013, he signed his rookie scale contract with the Mavericks. During his rookie and sophomore seasons, he had multiple assignments with the Texas Legends of the NBA Development League. In order to make room for the signing of Amar'e Stoudemire, the Mavericks waived Ledo on February 18, 2015 after appearing in just 16 games over two seasons. On March 3, he re-joined the Texas Legends.
On March 19, 2015, Ledo signed a 10-day contract with the New York Knicks. On March 29, he signed a second 10-day contract with the Knicks. On April 3, he scored a career-high 21 points in an 87-101 loss to the Washington Wizards. On April 8, he signed with the Knicks for the rest of the season. On July 30, he was waived by the Knicks.
On October 30, 2015, he was acquired by the Reno Bighorns of the NBA Development League. On February 8, 2016, he was named in the West All-Star team for the 2016 NBA D-League All-Star Game as a replacement for Erick Green, who received an NBA call-up, after averaging 20.1 points, 6.4 rebounds, 2.5 assists and 29.9 minutes in 30 games.
International career and G League (2016–present)
On April 21, 2016, Ledo signed with Santeros de Aguada of the Puerto Rican League. Two days later he made his debut for Santeros in an 80–79 loss to the Atléticos de San Germán, recording 21 points, four rebounds, two assists and one steal in 28 minutes. On May 12, he was waived by Santeros. On August 12, 2016, Ledo signed with Turkish BSL club Yeşilgiresun Belediye for the 2016–17 Basketbol Süper Ligi season. Ledo finished the season as scoring champion, after he averaged 21.1 points per game. After the end of the Turkish season, on May 14, 2017, Ledo signed with Spanish club Baskonia for the 2017 ACB Playoffs. On June 7, 2017, Ledo signed a two-year deal with Turkish club Anadolu Efes. He was released by Efes after appearing in six BSL games and twelve EuroLeague games. In January 2018, he was acquired by the Wisconsin Herd of the NBA G League, where he played in 17 games, averaging 15.3 points, 6.5 rebounds, 2.7 assists and 1.6 steals in 33.9 minutes. On March 27, after the G League season concluded, he signed with Vaqueros de Bayamón of the Puerto Rican League. On July 26, 2018, Ledo signed a one-year deal with Italian club Pallacanestro Reggiana. On November 29, 2018, Pallacanestro Reggiana announced that they have parted ways with Ledo. The American was the top scorer in Serie A so far with 23.5 points per game in eight contests. On August 6, 2019, he has signed with Anwil Włocławek of the Polish Basketball League.
