By LARRY VAUGHT
What once looked such a promising basketball season for Kentucky now suddenly has a dramatic turn.
Freshman center Enes Kanter has been ruled “permanently ineligible for receiving benefits above his actual and necessary expenses while playing for a club basketball team in Turkey†by the NCAA.
That means the Wildcats go into their season opener tonight against East Tennessee State with only 10 players, including walk-on Jarrod Polson who was put on scholarship, and no clear indication where post offense, defense and rebounding will come from.
The NCAA had been investigating Kanter’s eligibility almost from the time he signed with Kentucky. He played three seasons with a professional club team in Turkey, but insisted he did not take a salary  a ruling the NCAA apparently accepted. However, he was found to have received about $33,000 over the allowable amount for expenses when he played for Fenerbache’s senior team in 2008-09 before he came to the United States to attend a California prep school.
But here’s the real kicker based on info reported by Mike DeCourcy of The Sporting New. DeCourcy wrote: “According to a source close to the process, about $20,000 of that money was used by the Kanter family to pay for Kanter’ educational expensesâ€â€such as schooling and tutorsâ€â€with the remainder still sitting in an account unused. The NCAA told the family that Fenerbahce would have needed to pay for those expenses directly for them to be permissible. The Kanters made it clear they were willing to return the available fundsâ€â€and even repay the 20 grand because they weren’t aware of NCAA procedures and regulationsâ€â€but the staff declined the offer.â€Â
So much for logic and fairness at the NCAA. Money spent on education is not an allowable expense for a 16-year-old kid. Give me a break.
NCAA student-athlete reinstatement guidelines allow Kanter to resume practicing but not compete or travel with the team while the appeal is pending, That’s why so many UK fans were excited earlier Thursday when Kanter was seen getting ready to practice with UK for the first time since Oct. 15 when the Cats started preseason workouts. But how sensible is it that Kanter could not practice while the case was being reviewed and now that he is ineligible he can practice?
Coach John Calipari refused to say anything then other than Kanter would not play tonight  and he’s not expected to make any statements until after the Cats play tonight. The guess is that will be his one and only time to talk about Kanter’s situation until after an appeal is heard.
The university will appeal the decision to the Division I Student-Athlete Reinstatement Committee at the end of November. The reinstatement committee is the final appeal opportunity in the initial-eligibility process.
What are Kanter’s chances?
Probably not good, but then again it’s unlikely UK would be seeking an appeal if it did not think there was a chance to win. And remember that most folks at UK had been confident all along Kanter would eventually be ruled eligible even if many coaches across the country were saying it would never happen.
“If there is a silver lining, it would be that at least Enes is allowed to practice during the appeal process. Even if he can’t play, there will be about a month during the appeal process where he can help make Josh (Harrellson) and Eloy (Vargas) better. At least he will be on the court helping the team improve in practice. That’s the one silver lining,†said David Scott of coachcal.com.
No disrespect to coachcal.com or Scott, but my guess is that the Big Blue Nation is having a hard time seeing any silver lining when a key part of John Calipari’s No. 1 recruiting class is now likely out for the season.
That’s not to say UK doesn’t have talent with freshmen Brandon Knight, Terrence Jones and Doron Lamb to go with juniors Darius Miller and DeAndre Liggins, but the Cats lack depth and experience. They lack a dominant post player. And they have to feel a bit taken aback not having a player most Cats termed a “beast†when it came to rebounding.
Scott says he expects Kanter to stay at Kentucky during the appeals process.
“I don’t think he’ll leave. I got the impression he will see the appeals process through. After that, there will be decisions to make. If say can play, then he obviously will stay. If not, then Enes and his family have decisions,†Scott said.
It’s not an extraordinary amount of money  probably about the amount a player like Lamb received in tuition and expenses at Oak Hill Academy last year. Kanter’s family apparently tried to pay the money back once it realized what had happened but the NCAA said no. And the NCAA has no clue that European teams are structured to dole out expense money in this fashion to make players ineligible in the United States.
There apparently was no proof that Kanter received a salary as a team executive had alleged in a New York Times story. This came down to what expense money was allowed and what was excessive  and maybe an appeal based on money for school should not be excessive does make sense to UK officials and really could have a chance to succeed.
“I am speaking for myself. I am not speaking on behalf of coach Calipari or the university, but the real loser is Enes He’s a great kid with a great heart. It has been tough to see him having the team practice without him,†Scott said. “At least now there is going to be closure. When the appeal happens at least he will know if he ever gets to play for Kentucky and that’s something.â€Â
However, Thursday’s news certainly was not what Kentucky fans wanted to hear even if many might have been fearing that’s exactly what they were going to hear.
All the high expectations for UK this year were based on having Kanter. Now Calipari has a solid team, but not an Elite Eight team. Probably not even a team that will win the Southeastern Conference.
Then again, maybe the underdog role will suit him. Kentucky won’t be the “Super Bowl†for every opponent now and Calipari can maybe turn that underdog status into a rallying cry for this team.
“You know Cal. He’s a fighter,†Scott said. “He’ll use the underdog role. He won’t roll over. He’s still got talent. His kids will want to show this team is about more than Enes if he doesn’t get to play. The journey might be a little different now, but don’t expect Cal to give up. He’s never done that and never will.â€Â
25 Responses to What lies ahead for Calipari’s Cats without Kanter?
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This coming 24 hrs. before tipoff could be definite negative for the psyche of the team…hope they can use it as a rallying point.
He’s getting how much money to win championships? Maybe he shouldn’t have put all his eggs in a Turkey basket and gone out and gotten kids that wouldn’t have to gone through this process to begin with. Sorry, this is on Cal and UK.
J, still think Cal and UK always believed he would be eligible. They are also hopeful he will win the appeal. Again, not a salary or lot of money just laying around.
Larry,
You forget that Calipari has a reputation, Kentucky has a reputation and a lot of people behind the scenes didn’t like this one bit. That’s the reason it was foolish to begin with and now left holding the bag in the post for a Juco UF washout and Josh Harrellson. Enes was never going to be eligible.
So Kanter is paid 33,000 in excess money that they used for education and kept in an account, but Renardo Sidney accepts 11k in a corrupt way, lies, and he gets to play? It doesnt make any sense! If the guy is not a professional, he wasnt paid a salary, then why cant he just pay it back like everyone else does? If the NCAA doesnt understand how Euro leagues work, then they need to get on the ball and start understanding them! Kanter has done nothing wrong and is being punished. Several people this fall have been ruled ineligible and then won their appeals process. Kanter and many people will be able to argue their points in person so here’s to hoping they get it right. Because if I was UK, I would use the Sidney case as prime example. He was dirty, he gets to play. Kanter did everything he was supposed to, but he doesnt get to? Stupid! I hope we win the appeal, but if not, looks like Cal better be callin Jay Wright more often.
The dumbest thing is that Enes can practice NOW. That makes no sense but I pray Ene wins the appeal.
This is what I thought would happen, but it doesn’t make it any easier to hear.
It makes it especially hard because it is only 33k keeping him from playing. A ridiculously small amount of money, in the grand scheme of things. An amount that Enes’ parents would be happy to pay back, but the NCAA won’t even entertain the idea. I hold NO hope that the appeal will be successful. This team must move forward without him and play together, closer than any other team in recent memory, in order to compensate. It will not be easy.
This team should still be a lot of fun to watch and have reasonable success. I think Cal’s 30 win streak will come to an end, but this team should be good enough to at least avoid double digits in the loss column.
BIG BLUE NATION STILL LOVES YOU ENES!!
GO BIG BLUE!!!!
I am a life long BBN member but none of this surprises me. The sky is not falling. There is no conspiracy unless you mean the grassy noll.
This was just a gamble that did not pay off. It’s just like having a GREAT transfer with only one year left then having him blow out his knee before the season and being lost to the team. I haven’t heard this much crying since my sons first day at daycare! ! !
Stuff happens. Life is and always will be reactionary. You can’t choose or control what happens but you have TOTAL control of how you DEAL WITH IT! ! !
UK will be fine. The team will be fine. Will it reach a final 4. Who the heck knows. But this is what I do know. GREATNESS often comes from adversity. So sit back relax and remember the UNFORGETABLES. In the words of one of my favorite musicians Eric Clapton. “Seems like I’m runnin of faith that’s what I(the BBN) always do. But my world will be right cause I’m comin home to you(THE GREATEST PROGRAM IN NCAA HISTORY)”.
Relax and remember to enjoy the trees while you walk in the forrest. IMO
KEEP UP THE GOOD WORK. GO BLUE AND ENJOY THE RIDE
ps to all the EC fans if i messed that up you get my drift! ! !
WOW!
The most disappointing part of all this is to realize just how selfish, and immature some of the Cat fan have become. You are the same “fans” that would be screaming to high heaven, had he stayed at Washington, or gone to some other school and been cleared to play…”What is wrong with Coach Cal? He says he only recruits the ‘best-of-the-best’ but did not go after Enes.
Some of you are never satisfied…unless things are “always” breaking in your favor. Well, life is not fair. You do not always get your way. So now you want to take your ball and go home?
Where have you been the past six months? Do you not have access to sports materials? You should have known from the beginning that this was not only a possibility, but a probability. I have wanted Enes to be able to play for us all along, but I never really held out much hope. Am I disappointed with the outcome? Of course I am. Am I devastated? Not in the least. The outcome is what I expected it to be. To be sure, I was hoping for a pleasant surprise. But I am not the type of UK fan that believes we are “entitled” to a certain outcome. We are entitled to nothing.
Further, the New York Times writer is not the one that caused this to happen. I would be SHOCKED to find out the neither the NCAA nor UK learned anything from those articles. We pride ourselves, rightfully so I believe, in having the BEST compliance office in the NCAA. If that is true, we ALREADY
knew EVERYTHING that was in those articles. If we did not now, then our compliance department is just a “run-of-the-mill” average compliance department, and I choose not to believe that.
I for one Cat fan am happy and proud that Coach Cal, Mitch, and Sandy rolled the dice, as it were, and tested the new NCAA rules regards foreign players.
I can not help but wonder how many of your “sour-grape” fans would have been saying how smart these people were to recruit Enes had the ruling been to let him play.
Get a grip. You can not have it both ways.
We still have a GREAT team. We still have an appeal process -and letting him practice is part of that process. And for my part, Enes will ALWAYS be a Cat.
Go Cats. The mountain just got a bit steeper, but we can still make the climb….together.
Well the almighty NCAA has issued their long awaited decree at long last. It seems to come down to $20K’s that the Kanter family used for his education needs. Isn’t the NCAA about the Student/Athlete? Or is it about Fenerbache’s ability to slide some moneys under the table to buy the ruling in their favor? Makes you go Hmmmmmmmmmm! I have never trusted the NCAA and do not care much for their Opinions or decrees what-so-ever. Why should they have any say if a young man or woman wants to come to college to learn and to play sports. Who cares if he had a job prior to his/her enrollment in a college. Oh well, I could go on and on and on…….I digress.
UK will have a decent team team this year regardless of the NCAA trying to undermine UK’s chances at a title. Go Big Blue!!!!
It’s a shame the way this kid has been treated. This same body of Men and Women saw fit to allow Dee Bost the chance to play again after he wasn’t chosen in the Draft. He had a chance to opt out and still stayed. The NCAA chose to break one of their own rules for amaturism. I guess it is okay for them to break the rules. Just what kind of message does this send to the schools they enforce.
Remember even Wall had to pay back some funds his AAU team used to pay expenses for him, sit out two games and then play. NCAA put the hammer to Kanter. Don’t think for a minute UK and compliance director Sandy Bell didn’t know about the money spent on education. She’s too good at her job not to have believed going to school was a good thing for a 16-year-old kid and an allowable expense. Still have to believe an appeals committee might have more common sense than those who work fulltime at the NCAA
I sure hope you’re right Larry. Isn’t the prsident of the University of Washington on the NCAA committee. I wonder if he might hold a grudge against Cal and Kentucky for the recruiting of Kanter and Jones. I know there is no love loss between Cal and Washington coach.
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So the Rondos and Melos of the world can get $22k annually from a basketball factory like Oak Hill yet Kanter gets hammered for doing it in Turkey?
I wish the SEC, PAC10, Big10 and Big12 would expand to 16 each and leave the NCAA to form their own football-basketball division with playoffs and leave the NCAA without its cash cows. It would serve those douche bags right for being the most inconsistent ruling entity in America.
Now that Kanter is permanently ineligible, will he remain on athletic scholarship for this academic year? I see no problem with that, but I was wondering is there is some NCAA rule that would prohibit a school from giving one of its rides to a pro.
Who pays the money to places like Oak Hill Academy? Or the prep schools for football recruits?
I will ask scholarship question tonight.
Oak Hill gives scholarships and pays the expenses itself. In Europe, clubs give money to the player/family to pay the expenses with themselves. Difference in the systems
The NCAA should have been aware of these systemic differences when they formulated their new rules and regulations. It seems like either a negligent oversight or an intentional holding to disguise a devious intent with a cloak of goodwill.
That being said, I believe that the practice of giving funds to a player [family] for educational expenses rather than paying for those actual expenses directly creates too many opportunities for abuse by the player [family] money intended for education either not spent on education and banked [Kanter's still have 13,000 banked] or spent on non-educational items, like cars, instead of tuition, books, and tutors.
Too much room for abuse, which is why I don’t expect the NCAA to alter its rule, and I don’t expect this appeal to get legs.
Time for this team, Coach Cal, and the fans to move on.
We will win the appeal.
This was a sham from the start. Kanter operated under the exact system the Euro leagues all use and the NCAA went out of their way to say they wanted those players to come to the US and play in college. Then when it happens they balk. They knew what to expect yet they went back on their own rule. This only happens at UK under Cal. Despite what some might think the endless negative publicity affects these decisions. If you haven’t seen that from the NCAA you haven’t been paying attention. Look at what they did to Memphis. Tell me that was fair. SEC teams get investigated at a rate that’s about 10 times higher than ACC teams. I wonder why that is?
Andy, I am with you.
and King, you are right. Don’t think for a minute Cal being at UK did not influence this decision
First, I want to say that most of the posts in this thread are worthy, as usual, of being read. What the real issue seems to be more than any other issue is “permenently ineligible”. Now, I’m not a real smart guy but the 30k breaks down to 15k each year of his status with the “pro” club in Turkey. I use “pro” liberally because let’s face it – calling a “pro” club in Turkey is like saying an NAIU club should be called NCAA status. Even if the NCAA has to follow the letter of the law and calls him “permanently ineligible” then let them use such irresponisble verbage. The appeals process is not designed to make a fool of the NCAA committee that we had to wait 6 months to get a decision on. All the hype and blunder and awe of this experience only did one thing – and that was once again make the folks in Indianapolis appear legitimate. Does a police officer pull us over for going 4 mph over the speed limit? Or even 6 mph? Or even 9mph in some cases? Of course they don’t. The one question I would love to know the answer to is what dollar amount was too much in their eyes? If Enes had received 1k over would that have put this kid in jeopardy? I seriously doubt it. But giving a kid roughly $1,300 a month in extra benefits above and beyond his cost of living doesn’t even remotely sound intelligent or excessive or binds him to “pro” status. It sounds like what costs 1 dollar in Instanbul may cost 3 dollars in another region of the country or different countries and if you spend it then justify it and if it makes sense then irresponsible words like “permanent” need not be used. But the Kanter family was able to prove they never needed to spend it nor did they. Way to go NCAA – the next time you go 1mph over the speed limit on I-65 – then just pull over at the next county court house and pay the fine. Eh. I’m rambling.
Well said Edward