Calipari: Enes Kanter Will Be Eligible

Coach Calipari firmly believes that this will have no impact on the highly touted incoming frosh. USA Today reports: “Kentucky coach John Calipari believes that freshman center Enes Kanter is an amateur and that Turkish club officials have ‘four million reasons’ why they want him to return to Europe. The NCAA is reviewing Kanter’s status, though Calipari said Thursday he thinks the 6-foot-11 center will suit up for the Wildcats at some point this season. ‘The kid, in my mind, is an amateur,’ Calipari said. ‘He never signed anything. He played on a club over in Europe. But how they rule that thing out, I have no idea.’ Calipari said the recent relaxing of NCAA rules pertaining to the amateur status of foreign athletes made him comfortable offering a scholarship to Kanter. ‘If you’re under 18 years of age, you’re not considered a professional in Europe anymore,’ Calipari said. ‘You couldn’t sign a FIBA contract, so you have no contract, and any games you played against professional players now do not work against you. That’s the new rules.’ Calipari said Kanter, who turned 18 on May 20, received only the necessary expenses while playing for the team and that Kanter’s family kept ‘meticulous’ records to protect Kanter’s status should it come into question…’Obviously, one side wants him back,’Calipari said. ‘There’s four million reasons they want him back.’…Kanter has been cleared to practice with the Wildcats until the NCAA issues a ruling.”