Report: Kentucky Recruit Kanter Paid To Play

There’s a scandal brewing at Kentucky, but this one definitely isn’t John Calipari’s fault. Pete Thamel breaks the news: “The best recruit in Kentucky’s top-ranked recruiting class, the Turkish center Enes Kanter, received more than $100,000 in cash and benefits over three years from the professional team he played for here, according to the team’s general manager. In an interview in his office here this week, the general manager of Fenerbahce Ulker, Nedim Karakas, said the club had given banking and housing records to the N.C.A.A. that show Kanter received benefits that could jeopardize his amateur status for college basketball. ‘I am sorry for telling this for Enes, but we cannot lie if someone asks the whole story, we cannot hide,’ Karakas said. Karakas said that Fenerbahce provided housing to Kanter and his family for more than three years, provided them with food and pocket money and paid Kanter a salary of more than $6,500 a month during his final season. Karakas and Fenerbahce’s basketball chief executive, Aydin Ors, both said they were unhappy with the way Kanter left the club because they had invested heavily in his development. Kanter, an 18-year-old who is 6-foot-11 and 272 pounds, is considered by some as the best big man in the world for his age.”