ISTANBUL ? 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.
Fenerbahce stands to benefit if Kanter is declared ineligible to play college basketball since the team would be due a transfer fee if he plays in Europe next season, but Karakas said turning in the documents to the N.C.A.A. eligibility center was a matter of telling the truth.
?This is real, and the N.C.A.A.?s main goal is to protect the amateur side of sports,? Karakas said.
Max Ergul, who has acted as an adviser to Kanter, said Kanter?s experience at Fenerbahce was similar to a player attending prep school in the United States.
?They paid the necessary expenses, like any other kid who goes to prep school and gets the $30- or $40,000 scholarship,? Ergul said. ?I think that?s the truth.?
If he received the amount of money that Karakas says he did, it would cast serious doubt on his eligibility for the Wildcats. The N.C.A.A., which does not comment on specific cases, is reviewing Kanter?s amateur status. He was not cleared by the N.C.A.A. to play for Kentucky on a preseason team trip to Canada in August.
Kanter?s case is complicated because he did not sign a contract with the club.
Kentucky Coach
John Calipari did not return a call to his cellphone seeking comment, but he told The Sporting News in April that Kanter didn?t receive any money. Kanter couldn?t be reached for comment. His father, Mehmet, a prominent professor in Turkey, did not return e-mail requests.
?There was no money, from what we?re seeing, what the kid is saying and the family, and what Nike is saying,?
Calipari told The Sporting News. ?There?s a lot of misinformation out there. You?ve got people talking about it that don?t know, just heard a rumor.?
Karakas said the club provided Kanter and his family with between $100,000 and $150,000 starting when Kanter was 14 and he and his family moved from the Turkish capital of Ankara to Istanbul.
While some young prospects remain eligible if they receive only room and board, Karakas said Kanter?s family received more because he was an elite prospect.
?For Enes, he was a different guy from all the players because if you have a good player and he?s coming with his family we are renting them a house and giving him pocket money,? he said, putting that amount at between $20,000 and $25,000 a year. CONT...
