http://sports.espn.go.com/ncb/news/story?id=5544773
Typical calimari recruit
Shocked, shocked I say. Never in my wildest dreams did I expect this from a Calipari/Kentucky recruit. Surely, they are making this up. ::)
Cal is slime, I have no doubt that it is only a matter of time before his reign of terror ends. HOWEVER...I dont know how much of this is actually on him, for a few reasons.
-Cal did not facilitate these payments.
-The Kantner Camp has held the entire time that, while he did play on a professional team, he was not paid (ala Yous). Many beileved that this was a situation where his Turkish team paid other players in order to screw with his eligibility if he chose to leave them for the US.
-When he came to the U.S. and blew up, he had 100s of offers, and even committed to Washington initially. I believe the relationship between Nike and the Washington staff was part of the reason that relationship ended. Regardless, there were TONS of schools that were willing to give this a shot.
-I am skeptical of the Turkish Club in this case. It isnt out of the realm of possibilities that they are making things up. A couple of reasons:
1. They feel disrespected by Kantner for leaving them and want to jeopardize his eligibility.
2. If he is declared ineligible and goes on to sign professionally somewhere, this Turkish Club is owed a transfer fee.
Again, I dont condone Cal, and I hope he gets sent away for good eventually...but I dont know how much of this is necessarily on him.
While the Turkish club could be up to no good, they apparently have presented documents. If there were payments, reimbursements whatever, that would affect tax records, income statements, expense lines...Turkey is fairly rigid in this regard. Why would the club also open themselves up to a government inquiry at home? No doubt they are playing games, but I tend to believe they have proof. No way the NCAA clears him to play. $100K is not Yous money.
Also find it interesting that Cal relied on Nike to clear the kid. More than a little fishy. Cal always has an undeniability out all lined up, in fact in each and every case going back to UMASS he has claimed ignorance. That is even harder to believe.
the saga continues...
http://sports.espn.go.com/ncb/news/story?id=5608992