All along we have know that Enes Kanter’s eligibility at Kentucky may be an issue. We were told that the NCAA would be passing some new rules aimed at making it easier for the foreign players to get NCAA eligibility and this was t be done in August. At the time, I decided to wait till the calendar passed August to get worried about the Turkish big man. August turned into September and now we are on the verge of October … so what gives?
As of now, everyone is still mum on the subject. I know that John Calipari expected some resolution a couple of weeks ago and well, that has not happened, so I though I would look at a couple of past NCAA eligibility issues and see if we can read anything from the tealeaves as it pertains to Kanter.
It was last October 22 that the bombshell hit that Kentucky freshman John Wall was having questions on his eligibility due to his association with Brian Clifton. This matter was not quite a bombshell as UK and the NCAA had been working on Wall’s eligibility pretty much ever since he committed to UK. ESPN just made it public.
It was just a few days later, on October 30, that Wall was officially cleared to play. Wall was ordered to miss two games – an exhibition game and a regular season game and ordered to repay almost $800.00 in travel expenses. Granted, this is not really similar to Enes Kanter’s case but it does give hope that this thing can still be resolved before the season tips off.
However on the same day, that the Wall decision was announced, the NCAA made a ruling about another college basketball freshman, Deniz Kilicli of West Virginia. Like Kanter, Kilicli played in the Turkish pro leagues and like Kanter, was said to have not accepted any money other than living expenses for his time in the Turkish leagues. But because Kilicli played on a team with some players that were paid as a pro, he was suspended his first 20 games as a freshman at West Virginia. That obviously did not wreck the Mountaineer’s season as they made it to the Finakl Four, even with Deniz sitting out all those games.
While it is true, that Kanter’s case is getting a lot more attention than Kilicli’s did, the proposed rule changes that were to go into effect in August by the NCAA, was to make it a lot easier for foreign players to play in the US. Kilicli had some comments back in April that dseemed to foreshadow the current situation that is going on with foreign players and the fact that NCAA penalties may scare off some top names:
"Kilicli says that punishment scared off European players from Serbia, Turkey and Germany from coming to the U.S.“Lots of the European talent, they’re scared to come here after my suspension. Lots of guys in Serbia, lots of guys in Turkey, lots of the guys in Germany, after they heard that [about the suspension], they were like, ‘Oh, man, I can’t sit 20 games,’” Kilicli saidKilicli says the new legislation could encourage other those players to come to the U.S. instead of remaining in Europe.“Yeah, they will come here,” he said."
And this is where we seem to be. Kanter seems to be the rope in a tug of war between the NCAA and his former Turkish pro team, who is reluctant to let him play college basketball due to the fact his former team will lose a transfer fee which could be as high as four million dollars. And this is why some people do not place a lot of credibility in the documents that Kanter’s former GM has supposedly sent to the NCAA to prove that Kanter was played a salary. It’s a huge mess and one wonders when this thing will get resolved.
And as the calendar creeps into October, some notable pundits are starting to speak out about the ridiculousness of the NCAA’s process in clearing Kanter. Greg Doyel of CBSsports has made his opinions known and now ESPN’s Dick Vitale is speaking out for a decision to be done in a timely manner:
"Now we have the Kentucky issue over Enes Kanter’s eligibility. When he played in Turkey, was he given expense money or dollars as a pro athlete? I understand that due process means spending time analyzing details and information in the case. But get it done. In fairness to the student-athlete involved as well as the institution, the NCAA has to make a ruling in a reasonable amount of time. Procrastinating is not the right way to handle a situation in any business."
And if the number of “Free Enes” signs at Tent City for BBM are any indication, Kentucky fans are nervous about the situation. I think most people agree that Kanter may miss a few games, but not the entire season. Even if Kanter misses 20 games like Kilicli, the season is still not lost. Kanter would make his debut on Feburary 1. Kanter would miss six SEC games, but the biggest ones would probably be the two games versus Georgia. If Kanter was suspended for 20 games, he would not miss any games versus Florida or Tennessee, which is huge, This is huge scheduling for luck that the SEC games before Feburary 1 are both Georgia games, South Carolina, Alabama, Auburn, and LSU … easily games that Kentucky can win minus a Kanter.
Am I saying I have information Kanter may miss 20 games? No. But using Kilicli’s punishment as an example, we can see that even half a season of Enes Kanter is better than none at all … and UK will very much be in the SEC race regardless. There is a possibility that Kanter not be punished at all, or only miss a handful of games. No one knows anything yet and this is why it is so frustrating.
All we can do is wait…
Keep following www.http://wildcatbluenation.com for the best in Kentucky basketball and football news, rumors, and opinions. By Kentucky fans for Kentucky fans