SEC Commissioner Mike Slive tells ESPN John Wall has "eligibility issues"

There are not many things that would be able to damper the enthusiasm in Lexington about the '09-'10 version of the Wildcats.

One of the things that would - an ineligible John Wall.

After an ESPN.com report today, it seems as if that could be a very real possibility.

Wall's AAU coach, Brian Clifton, was a certified agent for FIBA up until August 2008. This is not a new piece of information, but it is one that the SEC has apparently been looking into.

The issue is whether or not any benefits Wall received from Clifton could now be considered illegal as he received them from an agent. If the amount that Wall illegally received is determined to be insignificant (less that $101), than he would be suspended for a minimum of 10% of his team's game - three or four games this season (Kentucky's first four games are against Morehead State, Miami-Ohio, Sam Houston State, and Rider) - and be forced to repay the money to Clifton. If it is determined to be more, Wall's eligibility may not be reinstated.

Personally, I do not believe that Wall will miss any game time. True, Clifton was technically an agent, but he was certified with FIBA (I doubt Wall will play overseas anytime soon) and admittedly never signed a client.

It would be one thing if Wall's AAU coach was Dan Fegan, Bill Duffy, or Arn Tellem, but Clifton is far from basketball's version of Scott Boras. (UPDATE: Gary Parrish is now reporting that a source close to the situation believes that Wall will probably miss "a few games, maybe three or four" and pay back an undetermined amount of money for expenses incurred when Clifton joined wall on recruiting visits).

If anything, I bet Wall pays some money back to Clifton and is ready to play November 13th against Morehead State.

More on this as information becomes available.