Reactions to Enes Kanter from around the web

As we all know by now, last night Pete Thamel of the New York Times published a report claiming that Enes Kanter had, in fact, received somewhere in the low-six figures during his times with Turkish Club team Fenerbahce Ulker. Below, we give you snippets of what the best in the business think about the report. For our take, go here. And, as always, if you have a link you want us to share, hit us up on twitter or send an email to contactbiah AT gmail DOT com.



Adrian Wojnarski, Yahoo!: "Some top INTL bball officials at USA practice validated on (Pete Thamel's) Kanter probe: "We've all known that kid's already a pro," one said"

John Clay, The Lexington Herald: "The Times does report that Karakas was unhappy about Kanter's departure and stands to benefit if Kanter is declared ineligible, as his club would get a transfer fee if Kanter played for another European team next season. But Karakas told Pete Thamel of the New York Times that the issue is more a matter of telling the truth. If the NCAA confirms Karakas' claims — the manager said he provided the NCAA paperwork — it could mean that Kanter would be ruled as a professional and not eligible to play college basketball in the United States. Last year, the NCAA suspended West Virginia’s Deniz Kilicli when it was learned that the Turkish team he played on included a professional player who was receiving money. Kilicli was not ruled to have taken money himself."

Gary Parrish, CBSSports: " Let's be honest: Calipari isn't concerned with winning November and December games at this point in his career (except for the ones against Rick Pitino, of course). He's been undefeated deep into the year, been ranked No. 1, earned No. 1 seeds, and won more games in a season than everybody else. The only remaining goal is to win a national championship, and having Kanter involved makes that goal more attainable even if he isn't involved from the start. If Calipari could only have Kanter for March, he'd take him. If Calipari could only have Kanter for next season, he'd take him. So the lone truly devastating punishment would be the NCAA ruling Kanter ineligible forever and always, and if that happens, well, what's been lost? Answer: Nothing."

Jeff Goodman, FOXSports: " Kanter's situation has been bandied about for months among college basketball coaches. At one time, he was committed to Washington, but the well-traveled (he attended numerous schools since arriving in this country) 18-year-old son of a professor de-committed from the Huskies and wound up signing with Kentucky. There were, according to sources, plenty of other schools in the mix who were contacted by Ergul, who considers himself an advisor for Turkish players such as Dogus Balbay (Texas) and Denis Kilicli (West Virginia) that have come to the United States to play college basketball. Most of the schools took a pass, but Calipari decided Kanter was worth the risk. Now, he'll have to wait and see whether it pays off."

Andy Katz, ESPN.com: "Sandy Bell, Kentucky's associate athletic director in charge of compliance, and a representative of the NCAA's amateurism department may need to go to Istanbul and meet with [Nedim] Karakas if Kanter is to gain eligibility for this season, the compliance officer told Katz. According to the compliance officer, 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."

Luke Winn, SI: "If there's anything good about this for Kentucky, it's that Kanter's alleged benefits were made public before he played for the Wildcats. Had he suited up in official games, and later been outed as a professional, the UK wins would've been voided by the NCAA. Given coach John Calipari's history with vacated Final Four trips -- first at UMass, in 1995-96, and then at Memphis in 2007-08 -- he couldn't afford another scandal. UK can't be subjected to any NCAA punishment for merely trying to get Kanter eligible, because all of his alleged business dealings occurred prior to his arrival in the U.S."

Truzenzuzek, A Sea of Blue: "The purpose of the Thamel article was clearly to create a public relations problem for Kanter, the NCAA and Kentucky. Evidently, Fenerbahce hopes that by doing so, the NCAA will find enough "complexity" in the matter to declare Kanter a professional. It may or may not work, but keep in mind that the NCAA is an inherently conservative organization, and this rule change was a real departure for them. They may decide that it is wisdom to err on the conservative side of amateurism (a view that I suspect few NCAA coaches or presidents would oppose, particularly when the subject is a Kentucky player), and that hope is clearly revealed in Karakas' disingenuous comments."

Matt Norlander, College Hoops Journal: "Amazing how frequently controversial stories and reports come out of the Kentucky camp. Since [John] Calipari arrived 16 months ago, there’s been about one allegation or sign of smoke per month. This is just the latest, and while it’s more on Kanter than Kentucky, if any evidence surfaces that Kentucky knew of Kanter receiving money, then the dobermans will be unleashed on Calipari and everyone in that athletic department. The recruit is now toxic, though. No matter what comes of this decision, if Kanter ever plays for Kentucky it will only enhance the negative spotlight on the program. Is Kanter’s ability worth that? Most would say, absolutely: yes."

Matt Jones, Kentucky Sports Radio: "4. Was there a Desire to be a Professional?: I have talked to a number of folks around this case and they all tell me that the key issue for the NCAA will be whether the player had a desire to be a pro. That will be determined in part by money taken, but also by secondary issues. For Kanter, some of those work in his favor. His father is a doctor and a professor and the family was not in need of money. Thus, the idea that he would jeopardize his potential future as an Amateur for a piddling amount of money would seem unlikely. Plus, Kanter left the team while he was 16 and he didnt seek to sign other deals with clubs…which one might assume likely if he wanted to be a professional. These secondary facts, in addition to the money, could play a role in the decision, especially if the total amount paid is somewhat murky."

Rush The Court: "This much we know. The burden will rest with Kentucky to prove that Kanter is indeed eligible, and that any payments he took from Fenerbahce Ulker were actual and necessary to only cover his (reasonable) expenses and did not rise to the level of a salary. The organization notably did not provide Thamel documentation of the “salary” that was paid to Kanter, so if they’re truly blowing smoke on this in an effort to destroy Kanter’s amateur status, presumably the NCAA would know this. KSR breaks down the key questions to focus on in this matter, and but at a certain point (presumably after UK makes its best arguments) it will be the NCAA that has to make the difficult decision as to how much is too much when it comes to whether payments made to Kanter were merely expenses or a full-timer’s salary."

Jonathon Givony, DraftExpress: "Enes Kanter's team would have to be paid a buyout of about 300,000 (according to FIBA precedent) if he signed in Europe now. I really don't think the 300k matters to Fenerbahce either way. This would be more about pride, & screwing Max Ergul, Kanter's rogue agent. Kanter can go play in the D-League if he wants, as there's no FIBA letter of clearance needed there. Then he can join a NBA team w/no buyout."

Adam Zagoria, ZagsBlog: "Despite the latest news about Enes Kanter, NBA experts expect that the 6-foot-11, 272-pound Turkish big man will still be a lottery pick in the 2011 NBA Draft. "He's a first-round pick," said one Eastern Conference NBA scout. "He's a lottery pick. It could affect him a couple of spots, but then again maybe not. There's 30 teams. He’s highly skilled and he’s right at the top of the one of the very best guys in this class."

Eric Crawford, Louisville Courier-Journal: "Q: Why is The New York Times out to get UK? I mean, going all the way to Turkey, come on! A: This was a bit of bad luck for UK. I'm sure efforts were being made to get to these Turkish club officials, but being there in person made it more effective, and the FIBA World Basketball Championships being held in Istanbul, an event The Times would likely have covered anyway, made it more feasible (I originally said convenient, but there's nothing convenient about reporting from Istanbul) for them to report this. I don't want to speak for The Times, which can go anywhere for any story -- and to its credit, often does -- but I'd be surprised if they'd have sent a reporter to Turkey just to report on the eligibility of a UK freshman, without this international basketball competition going on."

Percy Allen, Seattle Times: Looks like the Washington Huskies dodged a potential headache when former recruit Enes Kanter (far left) reneged on a verbal commitment and chose Kentucky. During his recruitment there was speculation about Kanter's NCAA eligibility because the 18-year-old Turkish star played on a professional team in Europe. Kanter denied taking a salary, however, the general manager of Fenerbahce Ulker, Nedim Karakas, said Kanter received more than $100,000 in cash and benefits over three years."