There has been a lot of buzz for months that elite defensive back Elias Ricks would be leaving Santa Ana (Calif.) Mater Dei. Ricks confirmed he has left Mater Dei and goes in-depth on why he’s moving on.
The LSU commit, rated the No. 1 corner nationally in the 247Sports Composite and No. 10 player overall, said the biggest reason for leaving the Monarch program was his desire to graduate early.
“I have been taking extra classes at a junior college as a dual enrolled student since last year,” Ricks said. “My plan for some time was to graduate early and get to college as soon as possible. I skipped out on all the big showcase events and 7v7 national events in both Florida and Las Vegas this off-season to prepare myself, mentally and physically for college football.
“I was looking at two options. Finishing high school a semester early and also reclassifying and going in a whole year early (JT Daniels). I decided not to reclassify because I would have to attend summer school this year to make that happen. If I did that, it would put me on a college campus just two weeks before it was time to report for the 2019 season. I didn’t want to be unprepared or go in without time to transition to college life.”
So Ricks made the decision to just graduate a semester early and enroll at LSU in time for Spring Ball. The problem, he said, was he wouldn’t be able to do that if he stayed at Mater Dei.
“Mater Dei has a policy where they will not accept outside credits and won’t add those classes to my transcript,” Ricks said. “Therefore my dual enrollment classes won’t count there. They also require 270 units instead of 230 (mostly religion courses) which most local schools require. Very few players have been able to graduate early from Mater Dei because they don’t allow summer school courses to get ahead either.
“My years worth of dual enrolled college credits would be wasted if I stayed at Mater Dei. This was why I could not finish early there. I had to leave early if I wanted to be in college by spring of my senior year, which I knew I had to do in order to give myself the best opportunity to be ready to play college ball as a true freshman.”
That doesn’t mean it was an easy decision for Ricks.
“Leaving Mater Dei was extremely tough for me,” Ricks said. “I do feel is the best move to help me succeed at the next level. My heart and mind felt like it left for college a long time ago. I want to keep pace with the guys in the classes ahead of me and be able to compete with them like I did as a sophomore and junior.
“I’m doing this with humility and I realize that there are things that I need to improve on and develop more in my game and I’m seriously going after them. Being a great high school player does not mean that you will do well in college if you don’t put in the hard work and keep yourself growing. That’s all that I’ve been doing this off-season, focusing on academics and training, period.
“I hope to have a full semester of college credits done when I walk on campus in January. This way when the fall semester comes, I will already have a full year of credits and be on track to graduate in three years. I’ll have my body right and I will still be continuing to take college classes as a dual enrollment as well.”
Ricks will be finishing his junior year at a local school close to home and then will transfer to another school to finish out his senior year next fall.
“I looked at highly competitive high schools that would allow me to finish early,” Ricks said. “My family and I decided long ago that we would never play against Mater Dei. Those coaches and players are my brothers and I respect them too much.
"So I’m going to finish up this year at a local school and then I’ll announce later this summer where I’ll be in the fall. I know I’m blessed to be in this position and feel like God keeps using me to do wondrous things. I never expected to have the kind success that I have had and that’s how I know it’s not me, it’s Him.
“God knew this is where I would end up long before I did and I’m just following His path. Proverbs 3:5-6 says, ‘Trust in The Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding, in all your ways acknowledge Him and He shall direct your path.’ That’s what I’m doing here, trusting God and letting him lead me.”
As for his commitment to LSU, everything remains status quo there.
"I'm still rock solid, 100% locked in with LSU," Ricks said. "They know what's going, they know where I'll be next year too, I'm just not ready to announce it yet. I love LSU and love what they're doing. I'm still taking my official visits but that was always the plan and they're fully aware of that too.
"I'm going to visit Clemson, Alabama, Ohio State and USC in addition to LSU. The only date I have is with Ohio State week 11 for the Penn State game. I want to enjoy the experience but LSU is home for me and I love the coaches and environment."