Kentucky hoops is awaiting word on a pair of investigations. One will affect last season, while the other will influence this season.
And at this point, it’s hard to say what either outcome will be.
Ed Reinke/AP
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First, the 2009-10 season. The law firm that investigated Eric Bledsoe‘s high school academic record is expected to announce it findings next week, the Birmingham News reported. The report should focus on Bledsoe’s grades at two high schools in Birmingham as compared to his final transcript.
According to the original N.Y. Times report, Bledsoe, a guard who left Kentucky after one season for the NBA, also received money for family needs, but the law firm hasn’t been investigating that, only his grades.
“We will not investigate any other issue,” U.S. Clemon told the paper.
Then there’s this season – and the eligibility of freshman Enes Kanter. Wildcats coach John Calipari expects to hear that outcome sometime in the next 10-14 days, Mike DeCourcy reported.
The NCAA is trying to determine if Kanter, a 6-11 center who played professionally for Fenerbache Ulker, was compensated in expenses, not salary, as NCAA rules allow.
DeCourcy has a well-reasoned essay on the matter, which concludes that Kanter probably should be cleared because it doesn’t make much sense for him to spend the last few months jumping through different hoops and meeting with different officials if he weren’t committed to being a collegian. If he wanted to be a pro, DeCourcy writes, he’d merely have to return home.
That’s true, except for one thing: If Kanter wants to merely be a pro, yes, he could simply return to Turkey. But if he wants to play in the NBA, a route through Kentucky is a far better option. Fenerbahce could retain his draft rights for years. At Kentucky, he’d merely have to play for two semesters, then enter the draft.
Still, that shouldn’t derail Kanter from playing college hoops, if the documentation is there. If he wants to be a one-and-done player, he’s no different than any other elite freshman prospect.
UPDATE: Calipari may get that news sooner rather than later. Fenerbahce’s general manager told the N.Y. Times that it paid Kanter more than $100,000 in cash and benefits during a three-year period.
That sounds damming, but it remains to be seen if the club can document those payments. Remember, it benefits greatly by having Kanter return to Turkey.
Mike Miller’s also on Twitter @BeyndArcMMiller, usually talkin’ hoops. Click here for more.
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- Rick - Sep 7, 2010 at 5:49 PM
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its only tense for those who are constantly hoping Cal goes down.
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- handsome woody - Sep 8, 2010 at 9:49 AM
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It never seems to amaze me how all this bad luck just seems to happen to Calipari’s teams. And he never knows a thing, which really appears to make him dumber than a bag of hammers or as slick as Bill Clinton. That’s how he gained the moniker “Squid”.
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- Terry - Sep 8, 2010 at 9:57 AM
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Kentucky has the right coach because he will do anything to win a National Championship he would turn against his own mother. That is the only thing that Kentucky is worried about beating Louisville and winning a national Championship and they will do anything in Lexington Kentucky do obtain that goal.
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- Ben - Sep 8, 2010 at 10:09 AM
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Do you all not want to win a title? If he’s cleared he plays, if he’s not he won’t. Because we are UK we get the spotlight, but there are amateurism issues everywhere. Maybe even at your school? I know at KU, Josh Selby is not even cleared yet because of his relationship with an agent. This is hardly just a Kentucky issue. It speaks more to college basketball as a whole selling itself out to agents, runners, etc. You also may want to know a person before you begin to attack them. I hope UK plays your team this year (w/ or w/o Kanter). That is all.
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- Daniel - Sep 8, 2010 at 4:38 PM
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It’s funny how Rick Pitino can cheat on his wife, score with a woman in a public place, disgrace his family, and still be the classiest coach in the state of Kentucky. Up here in Minneapolis, we’re happy to have Tubby!
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- VoiceOfReason - Sep 8, 2010 at 4:54 PM
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It’s funny how Rick Pitino can cheat on his wife, score with a woman in a public place, disgrace his family, and still be the classiest coach in the state of Kentucky. Up here in Minneapolis, we’re happy to have Tubby!
“…according to the Journal of Couple and Relationship Therapy, approximately 50 percent married women and 60 percent of married men will have an extramarital affair at some time in their marriage.”
Not to condone Pitino’s behavior, but it think it’s, at best, disingenuous to continue to slam the man for an error in judgment made nearly a decade ago.
As for Calipari, the way in which controversy seems to find EVERY program he leads, the man is either the most unlucky of coaches, or one of (if not THE) slimiest. I suspect the latter is more likely true.
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- David Strader - Sep 10, 2010 at 9:09 PM
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Shut up! Just like Ulker claims, your woody is not solid!
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- David - Sep 10, 2010 at 9:16 PM
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Terry, Why don’t root for your team and let us UK fans worry about UK. You will be much happier. That is until UK cuts down the nests in Houston next April. You won’t be happy then!
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- buckeye - Sep 11, 2010 at 9:08 AM
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To all the UK fans talking about cutting down the nets, you forget one thing.Cal can’t win it all no matter who he pays to get.Look at his record-great one and done players,but no rings.Only thing he will be bring is probation.
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- Jordan - Sep 13, 2010 at 3:55 AM
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Lastly an excellent write-up in relation to the subject, maintain the good work and therefore I wish to read far more from you in the near future.
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- Kenneth Herrlich - Sep 15, 2010 at 9:24 PM
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Maybe someone can clarify something for me. I’m just not getting it!
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- bridal car hire - Oct 18, 2010 at 3:46 PM
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I don’t think in some regards it matters to our defence capabilities what George Osborne does or doesn’t do in the defence cuts/spending review. So long as we have no alternative money supply to the privately-owned banks then the country’s left hugely vulnerable to economic attack from all quarters. That could end us.
