ESPN Men's Basketball

UC Irvine freshman center Maxime Chupin is ineligible after the NCAA's student-athlete reinstatement committee decided Wednesday to uphold an earlier ruling that he had received benefits above his actual and necessary expenses from a club team in France, according to Anteaters coach Russell Turner.

In a case that quietly dragged on while the NCAA made a high-profile decision to rule Turkish center Enes Kanter permanently ineligible to play for Kentucky, the 6-foot-8, 220-pound Chupin sat out all of this season and didn't have his appeal heard over the phone until Tuesday.

"I thought all along that by the reading of the rule that Max would be eligible," Turner said. "I’ve been surprised every step of the way.

"I’m disappointed for Max. I’m disappointed for us. I’m disappointed for college basketball. Here's a kid that doesn’t have the opportunity to play."

Turner said Chupin received about $1,300 per month from the Cholet Basketball Club as money intended to cover expenses, but the NCAA deemed he accepted an impermissible amount. Chupin was able to practice with the team after the NCAA's initial ruling that he was ineligible, but now his future at the school is uncertain as it is Turner's understanding that the ineligibility is permanent.

Turner in his first year had hoped Chupin would make an immediate impact in the Big West and announce the arrival of UC Irvine as a player for international recruits with the signing last August. But with Chupin ruled ineligible, the Anteaters went through a 13-19 season and are hurting inside after top rebounder Eric Wise recently told the staff of his intentions to transfer. Turner was also left wondering if the NCAA's changes in eligibility rules would actually make it easier to recruit international players.

"I think many assumed it would be easier, that more guys would be eligible," Turner said. "I don't think it is.

"We made a compelling case. In fact, the NCAA told us that on a number of different occasions. To our disappointment, they ruled the same way."

Josh Harrellson, the senior forward who helped take Kentucky to the Final Four, saw his role on team grow when the NCAA ruled freshman Enes Kanter permanently ineligible for accepting impermissible benefits.

Not only did Harrellson disagree with the ruling, but also he apparently thinks a double standard involving Kentucky and coach John Calipari had something to do with it.

Larry Vaught of The Advocate-Messenger asked Harrellson if he thought "the NCAA stuck it to Kanter because he was at Kentucky" playing for Calipari, and this was Harrellson's response:

"I think they did. I think if he had gone to Washington where he originally committed, he would have been playing all year. I think since he went to Kentucky and was playing for coach Cal and nobody wants us to get back to where Kentucky used to be, they took it out on him."

The notion that Kanter would not have been ruled permanently ineligible had he attended Washington instead isn't a new one. Dick Vitale has talked about it, and the NCAA has vehemently denied that Kanter was treated differently because he plays for Calipari at Kentucky.

Here's what NCAA president Mark Emmert, the former president at Washington told Seth Davis after the ruling was upheld in January in reponse to that particular charge:

"Not to put too fine a point on it, but that's ridiculous," he said. "By all accounts this is a very talented basketball player, but yet there were very few schools recruiting him. Why was that? Because everyone understood that there was a very large probability that he was not going to be deemed eligible. This has nothing to do with Kentucky or Coach Calipari. It has to do with a clear rule and a clear set of facts."

Harrellson, who recently began selling pairs of jean shorts on his website in honor of his nickname "Jorts," has his opinions. The NCAA has its stance -- the one that counts in the end.

That the discussion remains relevant in Kentucky four months after Kanter was banned for a player on the team that went to the Final Four speaks to how strong the perception of bias is.

Enes Kanter is scheduled to throw out the ceremonial first pitch before Friday's Kentucky baseball game, as the school gets a chance to honor one of the members of the team that went to the Final Four.

The center from Turkey didn't play a single minute after the NCAA ruled him permanently ineligible for accepting impermissible benefits, but Kentucky is making sure he gets to be cheered as a "men's basketball student assistant coach."

Kanter, who is expected to be a lottery pick in this year's NBA draft, didn't make the trip with the team to the Final Four, but did make an impact as a practice player.

Meanwhile, the Wildcats will also celebrate its Final Four appearance by hanging a banner in Rupp Arena. Coach John Calipari tweeted about the plans shortly after the team's loss to Connecticut in the national semifinal, only to have fans tweet back that only championship banners hang in Rupp Arena.

Kentucky had to remind its fans that Final Four banners are indeed hung, and the school is finalizing plans to raise its 14th banner.

The NCAA ruling Turkish center Enes Kanter permanently ineligible due to receiving impermissible benefits didn't kill Kentucky's season after all. Out of it came the unlikely rise of forward Josh Harrellson, and now the Wildcats are going to the Final Four.

But Kanter, who's soon expected to be a first round draft pick, hasn't been completely left out in this postseason run. Players say he has made an impact as a practice player, with Harrellson going up against him every day.

"Going against him everyday makes me a better player," Harrellson told reporters. "Every day in and out just competing against him, doing drills with him, even if I am not going against him just watching him; I am just trying to match him. Just doing that makes me more confident and being able to stop him in practice make me go into every game knowing I am not going to play someone as good as Enes."

Wildcats guard Brandon Knight indicated that Kanter helped raise Harrellson's confidence, using the future NBA player as a gauge of what kind of offensive moves he could successfully make.

"He is one of the best big men in the country," Knight said. "For Josh to go up against him each and every day it helps (Harrellson) out. He knows what he can and can't do. When you do it against the best of the best, you know what you can and can't do. You can see how (Harrellson) got better."

Guard DeAndre Liggins said he senses Kanter, who is not listed on Kentucky's official roster, wants to be on the court during the postseason. "It's hard for him to admit that, but that is just the way it is," Liggins said.

He also thinks Harrellson changed his mentality after the NCAA made its ruling.

"It kind of got me down a little bit," Harrellson said. "I wanted him to play more than anybody. I would have given up anything for him to come out and play, but he was ruled ineligible and from there I got better as the season went on. Some people are happy now that he didn't play because I have taken full advantage of my opportunity and have done a lot of great things with it. I still wish he could have played though."

Kentucky coach John Calipari spoke at length today regarding the NCAA upholding a ruling that forward Enes Kanter would be permanently ineligible due to impermissible compensation "above his actual and necessary expenses" that he received from his Turkish club team. And in his comments, Calipari fails to see the logic of the NCAA's decision.

"This kid did not have a contract, so they just set another precedent -- you don't have to have a contract," Calipari told reporters. "Now [hypothetically] that club comes back and says, 'We gave him pocket money of $400,' then he is ineligible for his life. It doesn't matter [how much] money. That's what was just done in this decision.

"So not just us, I mean everybody looks at this and says the [players] could use it for education, they could use it for their health, they could use it for whatever they want, [but] they're never going to play college athletics.

"And the clubs over there are smart now. They'll go put a couple hundred dollars out there, and they know. They don't even have a to put a lot. They're saying, 'This is the greatest thing ever.'"

Meanwhile, the Kentucky Bluegrass Stallions of the Premier Basketball League sent out a news release last night expressing their interest in offering Kanter compensation and a spot on their team, according to the Lexington Herald-Leader.

"We're prepared to do everything in our power to get Enes Kanter to join our team," Stallions president Kristin Nelson said. "We are prepared to offer a very lucrative package that would not only pay him generously but also offer comprehensive insurance coverage against injury. Even if he just played for us at home we'd love to have him.

"Obviously Enes would be a valuable addition to our roster," Nelson said. "But we're convinced that playing for the Stallions would help Enes as well. Enes can continue his quest for a great University of Kentucky education as he pursues a championship ring with the Stallions. Our season ends in March, so he'd have plenty of time to get ready for the (NBA) Draft."

Kentucky is the team to beat in the SEC heading into Saturday’s conference opener at Georgia.

And that’s without 6-10 freshman forward Enes Kanter, who was ruled permanently ineligible on Friday, upholding a previous NCAA decision that deemed he received impermissible benefits while playing for a professional team in his native Turkey.

The Wildcats never had Kanter this season. He wasn’t even eligible to play on the team’s three-game preseason trip to Canada in August. So all this talk, hype and expectation of what Kanter could do for Kentucky was never a factor in the development of this team.

UK coach John Calipari said a number of times to ESPN.com over the past few months that Kanter would help the Wildcats, but he made it clear that no one player was going to dominate and be the savior. Maybe he was saying this to temper expectations of the Big Blue Nation about the possibilities Kanter could provide for Kentucky in its chase for the national title. But Calipari never had to gameplan with Kanter in mind.

One NBA director of scouting told ESPN.com Friday night that Kanter would still likely be selected in the top five in the NBA draft in June now that he has been ruled permanently ineligible. That thinking hasn’t changed since the preseason, when NBA scouts watched him work out in Lexington, or even in early November, when one NBA scout told ESPN.com in Puerto Rico that he had just come from watching Kanter and was convinced he would be a top-three selection if he declared in the spring.

So, obviously Kanter would have made a difference for the Wildcats. Penn assistant coach Dan Leibovitz, whose Quakers lost to Kentucky 86-62 Monday, said on Friday night how the coaching staff discussed “how good they’d be with him.’’ But they were impressed by how much of a factor senior forward Josh Harrellson was for the Wildcats. Harrellson, who scored 23 points and grabbed 14 boards in a win at Louisville on Dec. 31, scored 12 and corralled 11 boards against Penn for his second-straight double-double.

“With what they do offensively,’’ Leibovitz said. “Having a big that makes layups goes a long way.’’

Kanter could do that and more in the post. But Harrellson, though not a traditional low-block player, has proven himself more than serviceable for a team that relies heavily on perimeter players like Brandon Knight (18.3 ppg) and Doron Lamb (14.1 ppg) offensively, as well as slashing forward Terrence Jones (17.1 ppg, 9.1 rpg).

“We had our hands full with them and we couldn’t keep them off the backboard,’’ said Notre Dame coach Mike Brey, whose Irish were outrebounded 40-33 in a 72-58 loss to the Wildcats on Dec. 8 in the SEC-Big East Invitational in Louisville. Harrellson had nine boards in that game.

“I’m really impressed with Harrellson and what he’s doing for them,’’ Brey said Friday. “He’s playing his role. They’ve all gotten better. They’re a young team, which is getting reps. I thought they’d be young when we played them but they’re playing older and getting better and better.’’

Kanter is done as a college player because he was deemed to have received more than $33,000 in impermissible benefits while playing for the Turkish club team Fenerbache two years ago. He was a rarity, a foreign player who was a lock for the lottery yet tried to play college basketball. Foreign players sought at that level of the NBA draft don’t come to the United States to play college basketball anymore. The last one that considered it was Dirk Nowitzki, when Cal was pursuing him. He opted for the draft.

Fellow Turkish nationals like West Virginia’s Deniz Kilicli, who was suspended for 20 games under a previous NCAA rule for playing alongside a professional in Turkey, or Texas guard Dogus Balbay, weren’t talented enough to declare for the NBA draft. They needed to develop so they came to college. They may never be NBA players. They weren’t even playing at a high enough level to command the type of expenses that Kanter did on his club team, even as a teenager.

Kanter was essentially deemed a professional by the NCAA in its final ruling Friday. Kentucky is irate over his inability to gain eligibility, especially in comparison to other extra benefit cases. But the one certainty throughout the whole process was that the Wildcats can still win the SEC without Kanter.

Kanter’s college career is over, but it never started. It’s unfortunate for him, but it’s his loss. Kentucky didn’t lose anything in this case. It never had the chance to have him and the Wildcats will still be a Final Four contender and SEC title favorite without him.

Enes Kanter's journey from Turkey to our college basketball nation has been a strange one.

It appears that after being ruled permanently ineligible once again, he's going to end up going from celebrated recruit to talented practice player to popular student-assistant coach to NBA lottery pick without ever logging a single minute of college basketball.

Is the sport better for it because it upheld the NCAA rulebook? Or is it worse off because it denied a top talent who wanted to showcase his talents here? Those who argued either side ranged from the hypocritical to the sensible to the bombastic, including the suits in the NCAA, members of the grassroots "Free Enes" movement, the media, and Kentucky administrators.

The voice we heard least from was Kanter's. While he might have been able to express himself personally to the NCAA Reinstatement Committee, college basketball fans might always remember him more for the saga than his smooth post moves.

He showed a fondness toward American pro wrestling and roomed with vastly improved fellow big man Josh Harrellson, but the $33,033 he received above his expenses as a club player in Turkey cost him the chance to play here and express himself. That means we'll next be hearing from him in the NBA.

"The silver lining is that Enes will always be part of this team," coach John Calipari said in a statement. "My job will be to prepare him for his entry into the NBA draft, which this decision by the [NCAA] will likely necessitate. Enes will always be a part of our family and I plan to be by his side in the green room whenever he is drafted."

That in itself will be a spectacle, but here's hoping that the next time he's able to play, it will be his game that will answer all of our questions about him.

Throughout November and December, even as their young team was making impressive strides in a difficult nonconference schedule, Kentucky fans had a singular refrain: "Free Enes."

After Friday's resounding 78-63 win at Louisville, perhaps Big Blue Nation should adopt a new slogan for their arena signs, T-shirts and message board signatures: "Enes Who?"

As Kentucky waited for word in the inexorably NCAA eligibility case of highly rated Turkish prospect Enes Kanter, Josh Harrellson -- Kentucky's occasionally maligned would-be backup center -- proved that maybe the Wildcats don't need Enes after all.

Harrellson went 10-of-12 from the field, scored 23 points, grabbed 14 rebounds, and led Kentucky to an easy victory at the KFC Yum! Center. Thanks in large part to his effort -- which even saw the big man drain a 3-pointer, Harrellson's second make (and third attempt) of the season -- Kentucky rolled over an offensively impotent Louisville team hurting from the loss of forward Rakeem Buckles to injury.

Rivalry implications aside, the win solidifies Kentucky's progress before the start of SEC play. The Cats didn't need a quality nonconference victory, but after losses to Connecticut in Maui and North Carolina in Chapel HIll, it was clear UK's freshman-oriented lineup as currently constructed (read: without Kanter) still had plenty of improvements to make if it planned to put together a deep tournament run in March.

The Wildcats have made many of those improvements. After an uneven start, Brandon Knight showed why he was such a cherished prospect. His ability to run Calipari's show while stretching the defense with outside shooting (Knight scored 25 points on 7-of-13 from the field, including 4-of-6 from 3) is a rare luxury few teams in college basketball have. If Knight is this good, Kentucky doesn't need fellow stud freshman Terrence Jones to carry nearly as much of the scoring load. Jones (12 points, eight rebounds, 5-of-11 from the field) is perfectly capable of that, of course, but Calipari's dribble-drive motion offense works better when it has balance. Kentucky found that balance Friday.

Facing that daunting defensive task, Louisville couldn't keep up. The Cardinals have been a vastly improved defensive team this season, thanks in large part to Pitino's tactics, which have seen the classic run-and-gun coach ramp up his pace and create gobs of turnovers in the full-court press. Kentucky kept the turnovers to a minimum and made enough shots, but the real problem for Louisville came on offense.

The Cardinals suffered a six-minute, halftime-straddling drought that left them stuck at 24 points until the 18:30 mark of the second half. After Preston Knowles broke that streak with a breakaway dunk, Louisville scored only four points over the next four minutes. Kentucky built its lead to 44-28 and never looked back, leaving Louisville and its rabid fans in the proverbial dust.

It's a big win for NCAA tournament seeding purposes, of course; any true nonconference road win over a top-20 team qualifies as big. But far more important is what the win means to the rivalry in the Commonwealth.

In nearly every facet of college hoops -- on-court success, recruiting, national profile, media attention -- Kentucky has overtaken Louisville in the two years since John Calipari's arrival in Lexington. Pitino has weathered this storm with varying degrees of success; last year's extortion circus was a black mark, to be sure, but Pitino managed to land a top recruiting class for 2011 despite his travails. This season, he revamped the Cardinals' style and saw them streak to unexpected early-season success, an imprint of his ability to affect the game with X's and O's.

All of these things were positive signs for Louisville fans, indicators that Pitino wasn't about to let his personal and professional rival take over the Commonwealth that easily. All the Cards needed was a win. Instead, Calipari's supreme young talent -- with an assist from an obscure-until-now senior like Harrelson -- took over.

As of today, Kentucky still owns the Commonwealth. And it didn't need Enes Kanter to do so.

Each Wednesday, your humble college basketball hoops blogger (er, me) will respond to your questions, comments and nonsensical rants in this here Hoopsbag. To submit a query, visit this page by clicking the link under my name in the upper righthand corner of the blog. You can also e-mail me or send me your entries via Twitter. Per the usual, let's begin in video form.

Tim from Lexington, Ky., writes: Mr. Brennan, it's obvious you are biased against Kentucky. Fact: Enes Kanter wants to be a college student, the family has offered to pay back the money that is in question. Fact: Enes knows he will make money in the NBA for sure, but he wants the college experience and has done everything he could do to make sure he would be eligible. On the flip side, Cam Newton's father knowingly shopped him around to the highest bidder and now he gets to play in the national championship. Enes should be able to play too! ESPN hates UK and that is pretty obvious. Please stop hating UK because we are the elite program!

Eamonn Brennan: I wish there was a better way to communicate how much I am groaning right now. Groan. GROAN. See? Text doesn't do it justice. Because I am seriously getting my groan on over here.

This e-mail is a fantastic example of nearly every single e-mail I get from Kentucky fans about Enes Kanter, and there are lots of these e-mails. "You hate Kentucky! Enes Kanter wants to be a college student! Cam Newton's dad is evil! Why does ESPN hate Kentucky? Is it because we're so awesome?!? LOL GO BIG BLUE!!!"

Sigh. Let's try and sort this out:

1. I'm not sure why so many college hoops-related e-mailers (and not just the Kentucky fans, though they seem to do this more often than usual) assume that writers at national sites are biased for or against various programs. I won't speak for everyone writing about college hoops everywhere, of course, but we're really not. I don't know how many times this needs to be repeated. I don't care whether Enes Kanter players for Kentucky or not. If the NCAA allows him to do so, great. In fact, in a perfect world, I wish Kanter would get eligible, because he is reportedly a very good basketball player, and I really like watching really good basketball players play college basketball.

Other than that, I have no skin in the Kanter standoff. I like Kentucky's program. I think John Calipari is a very smart guy, an undeniably skilled coach and a master recruiter. I am not rooting for any outcomes, Kanter-related or otherwise, in regards to Kentucky basketball. Please stop thinking otherwise. You're making yourself angry for no good reason. Just chill out, you know?

2. Even if I was ruthlessly biased against Kentucky, and even if the whole world was out to get Big Blue Nation because it is "the elite program," or something, you, Tim, would not be qualified to say so. You are a Kentucky fan. You are, by definition, biased. There's nothing wrong with that, of course; passionate fans make college hoops great. But your Big Blue-tinted glasses make it impossible for you to judge bias. It's like people on extreme sides of the political spectrum arguing that moderate mainstream views are either liberal or conservative. You don't get to decide.

3. ESPN is not a living thing. It is incapable of expressing hate.

4. If you understand anything, understand this: It doesn't matter whether or not Enes Kanter and his family want to pay back the money he received in Turkey. This isn't a few-thousand-dollars-in-high-school situation. This is an argument over whether Kanter was paid as a professional. If he was, then his NCAA eligibility is kaput. It's really that simple.

And, per the NCAA's release Wednesday, and from everything we know about the case thus far, it's safe to say the NCAA sees a distinction between Kanter's case and Cam Newton's. Kanter received money. Newton did not. For all the various and unsavory details surrounding each case (especially Newton's; Kanter's family has done nothing wrong), that's what's going to matter. You can argue this until you're blue(er) in the face, and you'd certainly have reason to do so. But if that's the way the NCAA sees things, that's the way Kanter's eligibility case is going to go. End of story.

Did we get all that? Great. Because despite what the Hoopsbag inbox's unbalanced yield, there are like 344 other college basketball teams to talk about. So let's do that now.

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Last week, after discussing Duke's debatable nonconference scheduling strategy -- in which Duke plays most of its road games at neutral court sites -- I asked Duke fans for their feelings on the matter. If you're a Dukie, does this bother you? Do you wish your team challenged itself more frequently in November and December? Or are you basically cool with this? The responses were pretty interesting:

Tom from Austin, Texas, writes: Regarding Duke and scheduling out-of-conference road games: Duke plays as many OOC road games as most of the other big-boys. Only, Duke's road games are rarely in the opposing team's road venue because when Duke comes to town the opposing team wants to get to the biggest arena available for a very important reason ... money. You can discount these games as "neutral-site games," but that is just disingenuous.

Plus, what is the real value of playing true OOC Road games anyway? Is there even a correlation between throwing your team in to the fire early and winning in March? If so, I'd love to see the study. I sincerely doubt the results would benefit the opposing viewpoint.

John from Chicago writes: As a Duke fan, I think it's very smart. In place of true road games, Duke plays NCAA tournament "simulator" games. Butler in New Jersey, Marquette/Kansas State in Kansas City, Oregon in Portland, etc. All at big arenas, and often times clustered very close together. There's also a full slate of true road games in the ACC, each of which is the opposing team's Game of the Year. So why not use your pre-ACC schedule to get ready for the NCAA environment? Makes a lot of sense to me, especially for the younger players.

Ben D. from Cambridge, Mass., writes: As a lifelong Duke fan, I just wanted to take a stab at answering your open question to Duke fans in the last mailbag. Of course as a basketball fan I would love to see Duke schedule an extremely tough schedule every year, because even if they lose, those games are fun to watch. But as a Duke fan I am happy with the way they do it now. Admittedly, it doesn't make as much sense to me to schedule difficult road games like Tom Izzo and Michigan State, and I trust Coach K. Coach K has taken teams all the way plenty of times before, and his non-conference scheduling definitely plays a large role in how his teams develop over the course of the year, and thus ultimately how his teams end up playing and who they become when tournament time rolls around. If Coach K thinks a "lame" non-conference schedule is best, then I believe him!

Butter from Durham, N.C., writes: From the perspective of a Duke guy, I think Coach K knows a little bit more about how to prepare his team and maintain his program than the average fan with an ax to grind against Duke. He probably views neutral-site games in huge venues in heavily-populated areas as more beneficial than going to smaller on-campus arenas, because of the exposure that he can sell to recruits and because most tournament games are played in large venues. But I do understand the complaints: Duke haters don't have a lot to go on right now.

Phil in Atlanta, Ga., writes: As a Duke fan, I love K's strategy because he schedules to prepare for the specific season. His nonconference games vary between competitive low majors and mid majors that play certain styles. He wants to play against some zone, some princeton style offenses and in the regional venues he wants the players to see. When the tourney visits Greensboro, he schedules a game there. He hits Madison Square Garden every year for recruiting, etc. It's smart and strategic. The only people to rip for scheduling are those who do it badly and then lose out on making the dance. If a coach's strategy doesn't work out but he doesn't complain about it then hey, it didn't work out. It doesn't work out for all but one team every year.

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Brad Andrews from Plainview, Texas, writes: Can you tell me why everyone is talking about the women's UConn basketball team and their 89-game win streak but no one is talking about Wayland Baptist University 131-game win streak? I understand they are not Division 1, however that is a phenomanal win streak. Also they are the winningest womens college program in the country in any division. Can we get a mention on ESPN?

Brennan: That is indeed an impressive win streak. But since it happened in the mid-1950s, decades before the NCAA started sponsoring women's basketball, it's probably not a fair comparison. Anyway, here's your mention.

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Kyle W. from Raleigh, N.C., writes: What will it take to get respect for Washington State? The Cougs are 10-2 with their only losses in close games to Butler and K-State. They also pounded Gonzaga and Baylor and Klay Thompson is averaging 22.3 PPG. What more could they possibly need?

Brennan: I don't disagree with any of what you're saying. If Washington State isn't getting "respect," it's probably primarily due to the fact that the Cougars started the season pretty far off the radar. More respect will come with more wins, which always bring more exposure. Easy enough, right?

The NCAA is tired of your insinuations.

That's the message at the heart of this release, which the NCAA published Wednesday. After widespread criticism of the Cam Newton decision, as well as the decision to suspend Ohio State football players from five games next season but not from this year's bowl game, the NCAA apparently felt the need to respond to the haters. It's a bit defensive, a bit doth-protest-too-much (and it's "further", not "farther," NCAA PR folks) but you can understand the frustration.

In any case, there's at least one interested hoops-related nugget wedged in there, a bit of information that could have a large effect on the way Kentucky forward Enes Kanter's eligibility case is eventually decided in the coming weeks. From the release:

While efforts are being championed by NCAA President Mark Emmert to further clarify and strengthen recruiting and amateurism rules when benefits or money are solicited (but not received), current NCAA rules would be violated and students declared ineligible should a parent or third party receive benefits or money, regardless of the student's knowledge.

Put simply, had Cam Newton's father or a third party actually received money or benefits for his recruitment, Cam Newton would have been declared ineligible regardless of his lack of knowledge.

Why does this matter for Kentucky and Enes Kanter? Because UK's current case for Kanter's eligibility is based on the idea that Kanter is just like Newton: His parents may have been organizing and/or receiving benefits for their son's talent, but the son didn't know about it, and that makes it OK. That's the "new information" Kentucky presented to the NCAA to land a second hearing and a second chance at getting its all-important Turkish big man eligible.

With the quoted portion above, the NCAA seems to have squashed that notion, albeit indirectly. Kentucky, the Kanters and the NCAA have all agreed to the basic fact that Kanter did receive about $30,000 for his time with a club team in Turkey. Whether he knew about that monetary exchange or not doesn't seem to matter. All that matters, apparently, is whether money was exchanged at all.

In other words, Kanter's eligibility case isn't looking good. We'll have to wait until the NCAA finishes its hearing and releases its decision, of course, but the Cam Newton Loophole, in so far as it exists, no longer seems to apply.

Are you tired of the Enes Kanter story yet? Hey, me too. But -- thanks to Kanter's talent, his unique circumstances, and the seemingly constant stream of information about his NCAA eligibility case -- it continues tp be a story whether we like it or not.

Just a day after John Calipari hinted at a potential Kanter lawsuit against the NCAA comes a rather bold statement from Kanter's father, which he delivered to Sporting News' Mike DeCourcy via e-mail Wednesday. Dr. Mehmet Kanter says he will "guarantee" that if his son is suspended for this season by the NCAA as part of his ultimate reinstatement for next season, Kanter won't enter the NBA draft, where he would likely be a lottery pick, this summer. Like I said: bold.

“Enes would do anything to play and help UK, his teammates and fans,” Mehmet Kanter wrote. “In the last two years, one thing me and Enes never discussed was him being pro. He didn’t mention to me about NBA or draft and I guarantee you as a father – if that’s the NCAA's decision Enes will be a sophomore next year in UK.”

“I know he decided to come to USA to be free in making his own decisions regarding his future, which was seeking an education and playing basketball,” Mehmet Kanter said. “So he still is having hard time understanding most of the things happening the last six months. But I think support from UK staff and fans and his teammates is making it easier on him.”

First, I love the use of "in UK." For whatever reason, I always like it when British soccer announcers say a player is slated to be "in the side" and not "on the team." Why? I have no idea. Having Europeans for childhood soccer coaches apparently made me weird.

More important than my thoughts on European preposition usage, though, is this: Mehmet Kanter's guarantee is admirable. He clearly wants his son to play collegiate basketball in the U.S. He also offered to repay all $30,033 the NCAA and Kentucky agree Kanter and his family made during Kanter's years as a club player in Turkey. All of that stuff is great; in a world where most gifted prospects treat college as a one-year stopover on the way to financial fortune, it's good to see someone so enthused about amateur basketball. Kudos all around.

But I'm also not sure it makes much sense. There are a few reasons why.

For starters, if the Kanters are so intent on their son playing basketball in college, why wouldn't they guarantee that Enes would be at the school for four years? If they're so willing to turn down NBA lottery money, if Enes' professional prospects aren't the reason he's been trying so hard to play in the U.S., why not go all the way?

Another problem is that we have to take Mehmet Kanter at his word. I don't mean to cast aspersions; I'm sure Mehmet Kanter is a very trustworthy guy. But how often do college prospects and their families insist they're returning for another year of school before eventually deciding to leave for the NBA? It happens all the time. It doesn't mean such players are liars; it just means they're smart enough (or dumb enough, depending on the player) to revise their beliefs in the face of a wildly alluring future. Kanter's future, given his status as a likely top-five pick in next year's NBA draft, is more alluring than most.

Finally, the NCAA doesn't care what Mehmet Kanter's father says. The point is worth no small measure of emphasis. All the NCAA cares about is whether Kanter was paid as a professional before he arrived at college. According to its initial finding, he was. Barring a reversal brought on by Kentucky's "new information," Kanter will still be considered a pro. That will be that.

The NCAA isn't interested in bartering with parents on this matter. Essentially, Mehmet Kanter is brokering a deal: "If Enes is eligible, he'll stay in college and play. Word is bond." The NCAA isn't suddenly going to say, "Well, that's interesting. Apparently Enes Kanter really does want to play college basketball. Never mind that whole $30,000 thing. You've got yourself a deal!"

Sorry, but that's not really how it works. If Enes Kanter gets eligible, it will be because the NCAA decides the large sum of money his family made during his career in Turkey was made without Enes' knowledge. It's the Cam Newton loophole, and it's Kanter's last best shot at becoming a college basketball player in the near future. And it is a legitimate one.

But everything else -- guarantees, promises, sentimental appeals -- is only so much noise. We can appreciate the spirit of Dr. Kanter's e-mail, but it'd be a shock if the father's e-mail meaningfully changes his son's future.

We're still waiting -- yes, still! -- for the NCAA's decision on Enes Kanter. I hope you weren't holding your breath.

After his eligibility case dragged on all summer, the Kentucky forward was ruled permanently ineligible by the NCAA in November thanks to the $33,033 he received from a Turkish club as a teenager. Kentucky was in the process of appealing the ruling when the NCAA's decision to reinstate Cam Newton gave Wildcats brass new hope. Kentucky said it had "new information" -- which basically amounted to "Why is Newton eligibile and Cam not?" -- and asked for another hearing. The NCAA agreed.

The clearinghouse's consideration of Kentucky's new information won't take nearly as long as the first go-round; the NCAA is trying to resolve the case as quickly as possible. Thank goodness.

Because the longer this thing drags on, the sillier it seems to get. The latest exhibit came Monday night, when Kentucky coach John Calipari took to his radio show and made disconcerting noises about potential legal action against the NCAA if Kanter isn't eventually found eligible. From the Louisville Courier-Journal's Brett Dawson:

"The question is, can you make him pay it back?" Calipari said. "Can you sit him out, sit him out the year, let him come back next year? Or they can choose to say — whether his father knew (the rules) or he didn’t know or any of that stuff — we’re not letting him ever play."

Calipari said, as he has in the past, that Kanter’s father always intended for his son to remain an amateur with the intent of playing college basketball. Calipari then brought up the possibility of legal action.

"If they choose to (rule him ineligible), the only choice he’ll have is to sue," Calipari said. "I haven’t talked to him about that, whether he would try to get an injunction and play. I don’t know. It’s unfortunate, but it is where we are, and we’re just waiting to hear."

That's a strong statement. And Calipari agrees: Asked about the quote today, Calipari knowingly stepped away from the discussion, saying he was merely attempting to provide "food for thought" Monday night. From the Lexington-Herald Leader:

When asked about the lawsuit option by reporters Tuesday, Calipari feinted ignorance. "Did I say sue?" he said. When reported nodded in the affirmative, Calipari said, "Wow, strong statement."

"Obviously, that’s an option for them," Calipari said of Kanter and his family. "(Of the NCAA ruling) This isn’t fair." Of the legal action he mentioned on his call-in radio show Monday night, the UK coach said, "A lot of things I throw out (as) food for thought. I encourage thinking."

John Calipari is a pretty smart guy. If he didn't mean to say the word "sue" during his radio show, he probably wouldn't have said it. No, he meant to say it. Why? Because then people talk about it (guilty as charged), the chatter grows, the NCAA hears about it, the NCAA maybe starts to think about the threat of a high-profile lawsuit, and then Calipari controls the story from all sides. "Did I say sue?" Wink wink, nudge nudge, cough cough.

The question is whether Kanter would actually sue. The precedent for such a lawsuit seems rather limited. The closest thing -- and big thanks to John Infante for pointing me in the right direction here -- is the lawsuits waged by baseball prospects Andy Oliver and James Paxton in 2009. In the former case, the NCAA suspended Oliver, a pitcher at Oklahoma State, after Oliver admitted to having an agent present with him in prior contract discussions with the Twins, the team that owned his rights in the MLB amateur draft. Oliver sued, won an injunction and a trial on the legal issues, and an Ohio judge ruled in his favor before the NCAA eventually settled the case.

Could Kanter do the same? There are major differences between Oliver's situation and Kanter's. For one, the right to legal representation isn't what's at stake here. Kanter's case would presumably revolve around amateurism, right-to-work, and a host of other issues that may or may not be favorable to the NCAA's defense. (And no, I'm not a legal scholar, so if any of the lawyers out there want to send me an email, it'd be appreciated.)

More importantly, such a suit doesn't make any practical sense. Enes Kanter is a surefire lottery pick in next summer's NBA draft (assuming, of course, that the league isn't locked out); he'll be cashing blogger salaries on a weekly basis in less than six months. Why spend your time suing the NCAA when you have such a bright future to prepare for? To win an injunction so you can play college basketball for three months? It just seems silly.

In any case, let's hope the NCAA rules soon. Then Kentucky can move on with its season, Kanter can go on with his career, we can stop talking about hypothetical future lawsuits that probably won't ever happen, and everyone can move on with their lives.

Late Friday, as most Kentucky fans were bracing for the NCAA to rule on Turkish forward Enes Kanter's eligibility appeal, Kentucky released a rather intriguing statement. Kanter's appeal hadn't been decided either way. Instead, the school had "new information" it planned to present to the NCAA in the hopes of getting Kanter eligible after all.

Seeing as both sides have agreed to the major facts of the case -- that Kanter received around $33,000 during his developmental time in the Turkish club Fenerbahce -- what could this new information be? Here's a hint. The new information starts with a "C", and ends with "am Newton."

How do we know this? Given the similarity between the two situations, and the NCAA's loophole-y decision to reinstate Newton despite the apparent recruiting abuses by his father, Cecil, it's not exactly a difficult guess. But we don't have to guess, because someone told ESPN.com's Andy Katz as much Friday:

A source with knowledge of Kentucky's plan told ESPN.com the NCAA's decision on Auburn quarterback Cam Newton prompted the new approach. [...] Kentucky then requested an appeal in front of the reinstatement committee that was scheduled for this week. But the Newton decision forced the school to alter its approach. [...]

Kentucky is hopeful that the same committee will now look differently at the case after the Newton decision. Kentucky has maintained that Kanter intended to be an amateur by pursuing an education in the United States as a senior in high school and then as a freshman in college instead of going directly to a professional team in Europe, considering he was a rare foreign player who was a lottery lock but wanted to be a college player.

As I wrote Friday, this is Kentucky's last and best chance at getting Kanter on the floor this season. Why? Because the NCAA seems to have ruled one way on Newton and the other on Kanter. How else can you explain the two decisions?

The Committee on Student-Athlete Reinstatement could have decided -- and this is just a guess -- that Kanter knew about the professional-level benefits he received as an ostensible amateur in Turkey, that his family wasn't the only entity pulling the purse strings. If that's not the case, if Kanter didn't know how much money his family was receiving from Fenerbahce, then the NCAA appears to have backed itself into an intractable corner. That's the distinction the NCAA has created, and that's the one it will need to solve almost immediately.

How the Newton decision will affect recruiting and punishment over the long term remains a mystery. It's not hard to see it as a major slippery-slope; if the ruling becomes codified precedent, family members, AAU runners and the like would seem to have free reign to pursue cash in exchange for their players' services, so long as the player can plausibly deny any such arrangement. The Kanter case isn't directly analogous, but it is the first time a school will attempt to test this brand new Newtonian loophole. How UK's new hearing (and, if necessary, subsequent appeal) proceed will give us a first glimpse at what might just be a new NCAA era.

Theoretical noodling aside, though, the bottom line is this: Thanks to Cam Newton, Kentucky now has as good a chance at getting Enes Kanter eligible as ever. Probably better. A conference rival in a separate sport has never been quite so kind.

Did you think the Enes Kanter saga was over? It is decidedly not. That's because Kanter, after having been declared "permanently ineligible" by the NCAA Nov. 12, still has a chance to play college basketball if UK can convince the NCAA that the benefits Kanter received as a semi-pro for Fenerbahce Ulker -- $33,033, to be exact -- can be repaid in order to preserve his eligibility. It seems like a long shot, but Kentucky presented that appeal this week, and the NCAA is expected to rule ... well, anytime now, actually.

In the meantime, the Wildcats are good and anxious about the fate of their game-changing big man. From the Lexington Herald-Leader:

"I think we're all getting pretty anxious," wing Darius Miller said Thursday. "He's a great player and he'd be a huge help and asset to the team. We're all waiting like everybody else. Really, I don't have a clue when we'll find out," Miller said Thursday. "Hopefully, we do find out today."

"If he plays Saturday (at North Carolina), I don't know, that'd be crazy," freshman guard Doron Lamb said. "I know Kentucky would be happy."

And if he's ineligible? Kentucky fans will be rather less happy, that's for sure. They'll also start spending a lot of time mentioning the name Cam Newton, and not without reason. After all, this week the NCAA ruled that the star Auburn quarterback should not be ineligible for the pay-for-play scheme cooked up by his father, Cecil Newton, during Cam's recruitment by Mississippi State that was in obvious violation of NCAA rules. This is a bit baffling, given what we know about Newton's recruitment; the NCAA usually does not operate from a "scold the father, spoil the son" punitive baseline. Usually, if the family screws up in recruitment, the player is punished.

Sporting News' Mike DeCourcy, one of the leading "Free Enes" voices in college hoops, outlines what he sees as the hypocritical distinctions between the two situations as such:

One family purposefully does wrong, shredding the NCAA’s most obvious rule, and the son prospers and excels.

One family mistakenly stumbles outside the more ambiguous pages of the NCAA’s rulebook, and the son sits with the weight of permanent ineligibility draped across his shoulders.

If the NCAA wants its operation to be perceived as serious, and certainly it does given the billions at stake, there can be no option other than to order Kanter’s family to repay the amount in question and restoring his eligibility immediately, counting the six games missed as time served.

The Kanters would gladly write that check. Unlike some, they are not looking to be enriched by their son’s time as an NCAA athlete.

In fact, if Kentucky has any hope of getting Kanter eligible through the appeals process -- "permanently ineligible" didn't exactly seem promising -- it resides in the NCAA's decision to reinstate Newton. Kentucky's appeal should have used the words "Auburn" and "Cam" almost as frequently as "Kentucky" and "Kanter"; after all, it's incredibly difficult for any logical person to agree with the reasoning behind both decisions. The situations aren't directly analogous thanks to the professional implications of Kanter's time in Turkey. But at their most simple levels -- unless the NCAA believes Kanter knew about and chose to accept professional salary alongside his family -- the two decisions inherently contradict.

The NCAA might not see it that way, and Kentucky's appeal was always going to be a fingers-crossed sort of affair. But you can forgive Wildcats fans for continuing to play the "Free Enes" card, and for continuing to keep hope alive. They have the NCAA's stance on Cam Newton to thank for that.

Thursday night's Enes Kanter ruling was a tough one for Kentucky's famously rabid fan base for two reasons.

One: Losing Kanter to "permanent ineligibility" means Kentucky will enter the 2010-11 season without a legitimate big man. That hurts. Duh.

And two: Kanter took on a rare place in UK folklore, spurring obsessed Kentucky fans to spawn the "Free Enes" movement, a sort of provincial anti-NCAA rallying cry. At least one, um, enterprising Kentucky fan showed up to NCAA headquarters in Indianapolis with a "Free Enes" T-shirt on. As is so frequently the case, Big Blue Nation was not taking this one lightly.

So how are fans reacting? Many seem to have resigned themselves to the decision, though there is some measure of anger at the NCAA's rules, if not the NCAA itself. The typically reasonable folks at A Sea of Blue are already looking forward, in the process astutely reminding readers that even John Calipari isn't taking this one personally. Calipari has been outspoken about Kanter's amateur status before -- he addressed the issue after Kanter's former general manager told the New York Times that Kanter had been paid as a professional in Turkey. But at SEC media day, Calipari evoked an admirably reasonable stance:

"The NCAA is not working against us or this young man," Calipari said at SEC Media Days. "This is a hard decision. He played for the club when he was 14, 15 and 16 (years old). They know that. They also know the decision they make, with a kid in a similar situation, this is going to be it.

"I think our fans get to (thinking), 'Why is the NCAA doing this to us?' They're not doing it to us, they're trying to figure this out," the coach said. "I want the kid to play tomorrow but I want (the NCAA) to get it right."

Kentucky fans may not agree with the decision or with the NCAA's rules regarding the $33,033 Kanter was paid during his time as a Turkish quasi-pro. They may point to reports that $20,000 of that money was used for educational expenses, and that the Kanter family offered to reimburse the money before the NCAA declined. There are nuances to Kanter's case that make the NCAA's unequivocal language ("permanent ineligibility") seem somewhat harsh.

But they should probably also agree with Calipari: The NCAA isn't trying to sabotage Kentucky with its decision. Instead, the NCAA is wading into challenging, unexplored waters. The Kanter decision will set a precedent for future rulings on the amateur status of European club players, and the NCAA's primary concern was making sure that precedent was set appropriately. Disagree or not, the NCAA was acting in good faith, something many UK fans seemed to forget amidst all the "Free Enes" fun.

In other words, we can disagree without being disagreeable. Words to live by, and all that.