Today's New York Times reports that UK's foremaost recruit (center Enes Kanter) received more than $100,000 in cash and benefits over a three-year period from a Turkish professional team (http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/08/sp...tml?ref=sports).
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Today's New York Times reports that UK's foremaost recruit (center Enes Kanter) received more than $100,000 in cash and benefits over a three-year period from a Turkish professional team (http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/08/sp...tml?ref=sports).
I was just about to post this.
Kanter is allowed to have room and board and, I believe, expenses paid for by the team. However, would that be 33k a year?
BTW, what does this quote mean?
“There was no money, from what we’re seeing, what the kid is saying and the family, and what Nike is saying," said Calipari.
What does Nike have to do with it? Do they sponsor the Turkish team? Did I miss that?
Couldn't happen to a nicer fellow than Cal.
[insert Cal joke here]
And 100k over three years? What a rip. He could have made twice that in just a year at KY.
[/insert Cal joke here]
Ah, apparently Canter had a shoe deal with Nike?
I wold guess that this will mean that Kanter will be rule ineligible to play college ball but since he hasn't played any games yet, I don't think that KY or Cal will get in any trouble for this. Of course if Cal did anything to try to cover this up, then that is another story. And with Cal, you never know. Regardless, it is only a matter of time before Cal get caught with his hand in the recruiting jar.
FWIW, that quote is from April, so it's not a response to these current allegations. But yes, I think your follow-up post is on target.
This is great news to me. It would pretty much eliminate UK from the elite this year - even in terms of pure talent - and would only add to the growing stench and distrust around Cal. Sure, he'll say he had no idea, like always, but it's just another on a long list of shady incidents that "poor ol Cal" happened to get burned by. With each additional one, the likelihood that he was ignorant/complacent decreases, even in the generally trusting public eye.
There is clearly a fire burning in Lexington, and the more smoke people see, the more attention it will get!
Did Cal look into what is going on or did he merely ask the player and Nike?
Evidently USC was supposed to do more that just ask Reggie if his parents got a house.
How hard did Cal look?
SoCal
Perhaps as hard as we/K looked at Corey?
I do think Cal is an unethical coach and bends/breaks/ignores/facilitates/allows all sorts of shennanigans to go on. However, I do think this particular case, a player receiving improper benefits prior to enrollment, is not the hill on which we Duke fans want to die.
I can't imagine Cal lasting another 5 years at Kentucky. A shame to have such an unethical coach follow Tubby Smith, one of the really good guys in college coaching.
s.i.
I think Calipari is dirty and hate UK as much as the next guy, but I'm not sure we are barking up the right tree. If it is true that Kanter didn't receive any cash benefits (I have my doubts, but whatever) then I have no problem. Much more of an issue is the bribing of schools by that kids dad.
If you factor in the cost of the scholarship...how much $$$ in unpaid benefits do Duke players get? Plane flights, basketball shoes and gear...all the costs associated with running a basketball program. Kanter got all of that, except also housing and food stipends, some weekend party money probably...so that would account for 33k a year figure. Factor in housing and food, and those benefits look mighty weak.
Then again, strictly speaking that would also make him a professional because he is making a living out of basketball.
(i have no knowledge of the situation, and this 100k figure might be NOT including living expenses for all I know)
The GM specifically said he was paid a salary in the last year, I think at a similar rate to the other players. That is being a professional.
That depends on who you ask; a number of Kentucky people certainly think that it isn't the same, because Enes is actually only getting the equivalent of a scholarship to Oak Hill, and that amount is practically below the poverty line anyway, whereas Maggette was a cheater and Coach K is a well-known cheat who should sacrifice every win from '99 even though the other teams involved with Piggie players only had the players sit a few games.
BTW, this isn't tongue in cheek; this is literally what is being typed on Kentucky message boards, where the longest thread is about Kanter and the second longest, as of last night, was about Maggette. They are, without question, the most bizarre fanbase I've ever seen.
Where was Andy Katz on this story before? He is such a Calapari fanboy that he didn't even look into it. Now, he is doing work? Come on, that's so bush.
As much as I would love to pile on Calipari, this doesn't seem to have anything to do with paying a kid to come to the school. If I understand the story right, this kid played on a pro team in Turkey from about age 14 until he came to the states. It doesn't sound like it was a secret. Now, if Cal found out about payments but decided to waste a scholly on him anyway -- that's dumb but not a taint on the school. It's burning a scholarship on an inelligible player.
But, to the extent it suggests that Cal is more interested in the ends than the means -- KY knew that when they hired him.
This looks to be a totally different scenario than the Maggette situation. Maggette took cash money under the table before Duke. How could anybody possibly follow up on that? Kanter took a paid salary from a professional Turkish team. There is evidently proof, which has been provided to the NCAA already. It doesn't seem as if it would have taken Sherlock Holmes to uncover the truth. It seems all the reporter did was ask the question, and Kanter's Turkish team was more than willing to provide the proof.
The fact that Oak Hill, a prospect factory, took a pass is pretty telling. This is exactly the type of thing that Calipari turns a blind eye to that makes him such a shady character. Yes, nothing points to him directly, but the string of events, the Rose SAT cheating, the Bledsoe SAT cheating, the Wall improper benefits, etc...should add up and if USC got busted for "institutional control" for agents paying players then Cal should eventually be busted for institutional control, at the bare minimum. Name me another coach that seems to have such a series of "unlucky" recruiting mishaps come his way. Too bad the NCAA will turn a blind eye and allow Calipari to continue to pull his shenanigans.
...How does this affect Calipari outside from the fact that his team will be tiny next year?
Calipari didn't do anything wrong with recruiting him, right? (at least that we or the press knows)
I think this list can be improved dramatically: Camby's agent payments; Dajuan Wagner's father earning a temporary job with Memphis basketball; Tyreke even's trainer becoming a Memphis administrative assistant; Rose's fake SAT; Bledsoe's transcript/eligibility issues; the questions surrounding the recent Anthony Davis recruitment; and now this. Once again, nothing you can pin on Calipari (and some of the listed events were perfectly "clean"), but it's hard not to notice where all the arrows are pointing.
I think it will affect him by finally giving him the chance to show how the dribble-drive offense is so versatile and effective that it can even be applied to a mediocre team and instantly turn it into a final four contender. The season will go down as a coaching masterpiece and Calipari will subsequently be inducted into the pantheon of brilliant NCAA coaches.