Enes Kanter: ‘I still see myself as a Kentucky player’

By ADAM ZAGORIA

GREENBURGH, N.Y. — When the NBA compiled its annual list of universities with the most players on opening-night rosters, it did not count Enes Kanter as a Kentucky product.

The NBA listed Kentucky as having 25 products on opening-night rosters, while Kentucky counts 27. The school includes both Kanter and Alex Poythress as Kentucky guys.

Poythress was a two-way player with Indiana and that’s why the NBA didn’t count him.

As for Kanter, he attended Kentucky for one year before becoming the No. 3 pick of the Utah Jazz in the 2011 draft but never played there because of amateurism issues. The NCAA declared Kanter permanently ineligible as a collegiate athlete because he received approximately $33,000 from the Turkish club Fenerbahçe in excess benefits. The NCAA ruled that this amount was above and beyond what was considered acceptable.