Report from NY Times says Kentucky recruit Enes Kanter was paid in Turkey

There are a number of players around the country that are still waiting to hear about their eligibility from the NCAA, but none is more important that Enes Kanter.

Kanter is a 6'11" behemoth from Turkey that is considered by some to be the best big man prospect in the world. The problem? The fine folks at Fenerbahce Ulker realized this years ago and had been grooming Kanter to be a future star, or a potential cashcow, for their organization since he was 14 years old.

The question that the NCAA has been trying to answer is whether or not Kanter was actually a professional while playing in Turkey. According to a report from Pete Thamel of the New York Times, who is covering the World Basketball Classic in Turkey right now, he was:

The best recruit in Kentucky’s top-ranked recruiting class, the Turkish center Enes Kanter, received more than $100,000 in cash and benefits over three years from the professional team he played for here, according to the team’s general manager.

...

Karakas said that Fenerbahce provided housing to Kanter and his family for more than three years, provided them with food and pocket money and paid Kanter a salary of more than $6,500 a month during his final season.

No matter how you slice it, if this turns out to be true, then Kanter will never play for Kentucky. Ever.

The question is whether or not this is true.

In Thamel's report (which is quite impressive and damning, and I strongly suggest you read it), the general manager of Fenerbahce Ulker, Nedim Karakas, gave bank and housing records to the NCAA that prove that Kanter had been paid to play during his time with Fenerbahce.

But Karakas refused to show the documents to Thamel.

As Mike DeCourcy so thoroughly laid out earlier this afternoon, European clubs have a strong incentive to keep their star players from heading to the NCAA.

The European clubs have obvious motivation to dissuade their best young players from coming here to play. For starters, if somebody’s playing in the NCAA Tournament, he can’t be playing in the Euroleague. Also, if a young player is under contract to a European club and is ready to try the NBA, the club almost certainly will receive a substantial buyout in return. A 19-year old who wants to leave Kentucky for the draft merely signs a paper declaring that intent. He is free to leave.

It also doesn't help matters here that Fenerbahce felt violated by Kanter's decision, which was influenced by European agent/advisor Max Ergul. They discovered Kanter. They groomed him into the prospect that he is today. And he headed stateside on them, taking him with him what some expect to be a buyout of $300,000.

In other words, the same people that are trying to get Enes Kanter ineligible for competition in the NCAA are the people that would benefit the most if he decided to return to Europe. (For what its worth, if Kanter is declared ineligible -- which seems a likely outcome based on the information from tonight -- he can head to the D-League for a year, which would not result in a buyout when he ended up in the NBA.)

That is quite the conflict of interest.

The other question that was asked tonight was whether or not the burden of proof was on Kentucky or the NCAA. According to an ESPN.com report, it is on Kentucky:

The burden of proof is on Kentucky to prove Kanter received only actual and necessary expenses after Kanter signed with the Wildcats over Washington last year. Those expenses can be food, travel expenses for practices and competition as well as housing. Where this can get dicey is that Kanter was only 14 at the time he started with the club team, and housing for his family may have to have been included. The NCAA could determine that his family getting rent paid for by a club team could be viewed as him using his skill to gain an advantage for his family.

Right now, there does not appear to be a outcome that will be good for Kentucky. If Kanter is declared ineligible, Kentucky loses their most important player. Ignoring the value of a dominant big man at this level, Kentucky's only other post options are the seldom-used Josh Harrellson and Eloy Vargas, a JuCo transfer and couldn't get off the bench for Florida, a team that also lacked size, in 2008-2009. Without Kanter, Kentucky may be the third best team in the SEC.

But if he is allowed to play, it may as well be open season on John Calipari and Kentucky. This has been the third major scandal involving a Kentucky player or recruit (Eric Bledsoe and Anthony Davis). I bet Kentucky fans didn't think it could get any worse.

I'll pose you with one question before signing off on this subject: What is the difference between the money that Kanter got and the money that every high school player attending an expensive prep school gets? Kanter got around $100,000 over the span of about three years, which comes to a little over $30,000 a year. Isn't that the same amount of money that an american player would get -- via tuition -- if he attended, say, Findlay Prep (which is run by a UNLV booster) or Montrose Christian or any other basketball institution? I'm not saying I think that Kanter should be deemed eligible, but I would argue that there are a number of american players that don't even get their eligibility questioned by the NCAA that may as well be "pros" before they can even get their driver's license.

Its something to think about.

Here is Kentucky's statement on the matter: "Kentucky is working diligently with the NCAA on this matter and we fully support Enes Kanter and his family through this ongoing NCAA review. We will have no further comment."

And, since we all like youtube videos, a highlight reel of Enes Kanter: