Enes Kanter: Will He Be Eligible?

Early yesterday, John Calipari mentioned at a book signing the University of Kentucky was expecting word on Enes Kanter’s eligibility in 10 to 14 days.

Then, Pete Thamel caused all sorts of commotion with his article in the NY Times that said Kanter was paid by the Fenerbahce, a Turkish professional team. The title of his article was, “Turkish Team Says It Paid a Top Kentucky Recruit”, which was far from a relevation. Everyone knew that Kanter was paid by Fenerbahce. Fenerbahce can pay Kanter, much like a prep school can grant players scholarships. The question remains, were the expenses that Kanter received above and beyond the normal expenses. If they were, Kanter will be ineligible. If they weren’t, he should be.

But, now there are a couple other questions. Will the NCAA be able to find documentation of payments? If so, where do they draw the line?

Unless some new documents emerge, Kanter never signed a contract with Fenebahce because he was under the age of 18 while playing for them. There is no documentation yet to prove Kanter received a salary, although Fenerbahce’s GM claims they did in Thamel’s story. Documents proving salary payments to Kanter are going to be tough to come by. You certainly can’t take Nedim Karakas’, the Fenebahce’s GM, word for it.

Here is an excerpt from Thamel’s article.

Karakas said the club provided Kanter and his family with between $100,000 and $150,000 starting when Kanter was 14 and he and his family moved from the Turkish capital of Ankara to Istanbul. While some young prospects remain eligible if they receive only room and board, Karakas said Kanter’s family received more because he was an elite prospect.

“For Enes, he was a different guy from all the players because if you have a good player and he’s coming with his family we are renting them a house and giving him pocket money,” he said, putting that amount at between $20,000 and $25,000 a year.

Remember, just like Kentucky will benefit from Kanter’s eligibility, Fenehahce, Karakas, and European basketball, in general, will benefit from his ineligibility.

With Kanter, the Wildcats are a legit national title contender. The kid has been projected by ESPN’s Fran Fraschilla as the No. 4 one-and-done freshman in 2010-11. He’s 6-11, wide and will provide the Cats with a much-needed rebounding presence. Without him, they have a definite void in the paint.

Fenerbahce and Karakas benefit from his ineligibility because they are upset about Kanter leaving and want to prevent players from doing this in the future. If Kanter goes to the NBA strait from Fenerbahce, then they receive a buyout from the team that drafts him. Do you not think that Fenerbahce and all of European basketball want to keep their top prospects from moving to the United States to play college ball and lose those buyouts?

Both Kentucky and Fenerbahce have motivation here.

The problem for the Cats is the burden of proof is on them, not Fenerbahce or the NCAA. As Eric Crawford pointed out on his blog, it’s essentially a guilty until proven innocent type of deal. If Fenerbahce can produce at least some evidence of a salary payment, then Enes’ eligibilty prospects dim. If they cannot, it seems Enes would just have to sit out the previously anticipated handful of games.

We’ll see.