Kentucky Basketball Round table: What if Enes Kanter had stayed at Washington?

Good Morning, BBN.  I know in the past the the WBN has not really been a “leave comments” type site and to be honest, that has been fine with me.  On too many sites, the comment section turns into shouting contests or just a lot of infantile name calling.  One of the sites that I do respect however, is A Sea of Blue, and they have been able have intelligent discussions in the comments section about certain issues affecting Kentucky.  So I came up with the idea to have a weekly topic and invite some of my staff writers and some other UK writers that I respect and get their opinion on the topic.

Do feel free to leave comments and be respectful.  If you don’t want to comment, that’s fine as well.  I’m not going to force anyone to participate but thought it may be fun to have an “open conversation” on Sunday’s since no Kentucky games are on Sunday.  Regardless, I will keep this going, so if you have any ideas on future round table topics, feel free to email me or let me know.

Joining me for the inaugural WBN Round table are Glenn Logan and Ken Howlett from A Sea of Blue, Brian Eldridge from Kentucky Sports Report and Scout.com, and the WBN’s very own Greg Edwards and Jonathan North.  Let’s start with today’s question:

"Would Enes Kanter be playing basketball today if he were still enrolled at the University of Washington?"

I remember during the whole Terrence Jones situation and I was researching what the press was saying in that section of the country, I saw a whole lot of “threats” from the Huskie fans about what Mark Emmert would do when he get in power.  Emmert, of course, was named President of the NCAA on April 27, 2010 and took over the job on November 1.  Before that, he was the President of the University of Washington.  Now, I am in no ways saying that this is a personal vendetta by the NCAA and Emmert to “punish Kentucky”, but you have to admit that is is interesting that Emmet’s organization is now investigating one of his former players at a different school.

That’s my introduction.  Let’s see what the round table had to say and I will give some last thoughts in a few minutes:

Greg Edwards, Wildcat Blue Nation:  Personally I believe that Emmert is on the hot seat with the Enes Kanter situation. If Kanter had been cleared and played at Washington while he was on as NCAA President, he would have a whole lot of explaining to do. The problem is that Emmert wants to wield a sledgehammer with the NCAA when all he needs is a scalpel. Had the Kanter situation of been reversed, it would have set the tone for a completely different Mark Emmert, and MAYBE a different NCAA, or at least as different as it could be.

Glenn Logan, A Sea of Blue:  If Kanter had stayed committed to Washington, he would have gotten exactly the same treatment, in my opinion. This whole affair was driven by Fenerbahçe Ülker and their desire to see Kanter declared ineligible, and that effort would have been no less regardless of which school Kanter enrolled in. Emmert would not have risked his new job to help his old school, that would have been folly. Besides, he officially has little input into the process, so I don’t think that’s a factor at all.  The bottom line — it would have been the same at Washington as at UK.

Jonathan North, Wildcat Blue Nation:  If Enes Kanter was playing right now at Washington I actually think the big man from Turkey would be playing but not for the reason the President of the committee to declare him eligible or ineligible is from Washington. I think when you are Kentucky you are in the national spotlight, always.  So when someone with a case like Kanter commits to Kentucky it automatically raises red flags and causes the NCAA to look into it, Washington on the other hand is never nor has ever been a traditional power house.  Bottom line when you are at a major program like Kentucky you are always under the microscope of the NCAA.  At the most Kanter may have had to sit half a season or so for Washington and the decision would have came a lot quicker. I DON’T THINK the NCAA is out to get Kentucky.

Ken Howlett, A Sea of Blue:  My viewpoint probably differs from most, but I don’t think the NCAA would not have handled the Kanter case any differently had he gone to Washington, North Carolina, or any other Division 1 school.  This case is so important to the future possibility of the best European talent coming to America to play basketball, that I feel the NCAA is most concerned with getting this ruling right. And so far, I think they have, with one caveat: I think the NCAA should have begun their investigation as soon as Kanter verballed to UW.  The bottom line, though, is this: Kanter received money to play professional basketball, above and beyond his “expenses,” regardless of the intentions of his parents. That fact alone renders him ineligible to play collegiate basketball in this country.   And finally, no, I don’t feel the NCAA is out to get UK. I have a hard time coming up with an example of the NCAA coming down too hard on Kentucky in any of their rulings regarding any infractions UK has committed over the years.  It might not be a popular opinion, but that’s how I feel.
Brian  Eldridge, Kentucky Sports Report:  I believe that Kanter may have had to sit a little while, but I feel that the process of getting him cleared would have been done.  The facts are in UK/Kanter’s favor if things are fair.  But this is the NCAA and fair doesn’t really matter.  But with Mark Emmert being in charge, they would be more likely to be fair to Enes if he was with UDub.  I’m fairly certain Emmert would have had the NCAA iron this thing out long ago if he was a Husky.

As for me?  I don’t think Emmert or the NCAA is “punishing” Kentucky or is out to get Kentucky, but I do think the situation may be a bit different if Kanter were still at Washington.  I think that Kanter would have flown under the radar a bit and maybe gotten an 8-10 game suspension at Washington.  I certainly do not think you would have had the Pete Thamel/New York Times involvement had Kanter been a Husky and that is when the general feeling started to change from Kanter will be OK to Kanter may not play.

The Thamel story blew this case to the front pages and yes, I think the NCAA is under pressure to “be tough” with Kentucky and the ludicrous decisions lately with Cameron Newton and Ohio State rulings are putting more pressure on the NCAA to start playing hardball and unfortunately, Kentucky is in the way.  I think that is Kanter was at Washington, this would have been at latest an September decision.

That’s our opinions.  What about you?  Feel free to comment and I will more than likely continue this format on Sunday mornings regardless of comments.  So, if you have ideas for a possible topic or if you are a fellow blogger that wants to join the roundtable, email me at PJordan32746@gmail.com.

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