Take a deep breath Big Blue Nation. Apparently the delay in getting Enes Kanter eligible is not that unusual and not something to be creeping out on the ledge over. I know that we have said on the site before that the NCAA would be looking at some rule changes in August and that the eligibility of Kanter should not be an issue. According to several sources, his family is pretty well off and they had been very cognizant to insure that Enes did not receive any benefits that could deem him ineligible to play in the states.
There has been lots of rampant speculation on the Kanter situation. Some UK sites have gone as far as to suggest that Kanter was in the middle of a tug or war between UK and the European pro leagues. The idea of this theory (that the European leagues were tired of the colleges trying to steal their talent and did not want to co-operate) was a plausible one and made sense, but unfortunately, had some UK fans trying to start a “Blame Turkey” movement ala South Park. Granted, I still don’t understand the NCAA and was looking for more information.
Yesterday, ESPN’s Andy Katz, the guru of college basketball spoke about the issue and offered a bit more explaination and since he knows a lot more about this than I do …. I will let him ake it from there:
"This situation wasn’t out of the ordinary, though. The NCAA’s eligibility process is to the point where it is no longer sequential in terms of seasons (they no longer process fall sports first, then winter, then spring). The NCAA is now set up to process requests as they hit the system.There is a catch, however, said NCAA spokesperson Chuck Wynne.He noted that one in four of the 90,000 or so applicants the NCAA is processing for the upcoming school year did not submit all of the needed information (test scores, high school transcripts, completed questionnaire, etc.). Most of these cases are routinely solved once the proper documentation is received, Wynne said. But the remaining certifications “can be a bit more complicated.”Will Barton didn’t travel with the team to the Bahamas, but he will suit up for the Tigers this season.“For example, if a prospect attends multiple high schools, it will take some time to determine if the core course and GPA requirements are met,” Wynne said. “If the prospect has taken a non-traditional type course, we have to verify the course meets NCAA requirements. In the case of international student-athletes, we have to make sure there are no red flags for academic or amateurism issues. Most all of these eventually get resolved and any delay is usually attributable to factors outside of our control — high schools, online institutions, foreign clubs, etc., not getting back to us at all or in a timely matter. In the end, less than 1 percent of applicants are not certified.”The issue with Kanter deals with his amateur status dating back to when he was in Turkey prior to coming to the United States for his senior year in high school. According to a source, the Turkish club would rather Kanter be playing in his native land rather than in America, which has meant little help in getting information from the club. Kanter, who is considered a likely first-round pick if he declares for the NBA draft in 2011, was an amateur in Turkey but the issue will be what expenses were allowed to be paid. Getting info out of a foreign country can take more time, so it’s not out of the norm for the process to be dragged out as the NCAA and Kentucky seek cooperation, which may or may not occur, from a Turkish club team to document expenses."
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