January 11, 2011

‘Coach’ Kanter must work out his new role on the fly

As a new student assistant coach, Kentucky freshman Enes Kanter’s first assignment say be simply to understand that that job entails.

When asked what Kanter thought of seeking a restraining order to block the NCAA ruling of permanent ineligibility, UK spokesman DeWayne Peevy said, “I’ve had a hard enough time getting him to understand ’student assistant coach.’ He knows Wayne Turner wears a suit. He wants to know if he has to wear a suit.”

Turner, who played on three UK Final Four teams in the 1990s, returned to school last fall to complete work on an undergraduate degree. That qualifies Turner to be a student assistant coach.

Peevy said that using Turner as an example was the easiest way to get Kanter, a native of Turkey in this country for less than two years, to understand his new role.

” ‘You get to be Wayne Turner,’ ” Peevy said he told Kanter. To which, Kanter replied, “I don’t want to be Wayne Turner.”

Peevy described Kanter’s role as more coach than practice participate. The intent of the NCAA rule forming the student assistant coach role was to be a coaching trainee, not a quality player who can help the eligible players improve by challenging them on the court.

Jerry Tipton
ukbasketball.bloginky.com

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