[Stardust]

The NCAA denying Kentucky's appeal could be interpreted as the end of the Enes Kanter saga. Permanent ineligibility has the ring of finality. But UK's plan to have Kanter serve as a student assistant coach the rest of the season raises a few questions.

Quoting a source, The Sporting News reported Friday that UK sees assistant coach Kanter as a "practice player" who would also "perform limited coaching duties." Such a role will help the freshman prepare for the 2011 NBA Draft.

If true, that's 180 degrees opposed to what the NCAA intended when it defined the student assistant coach position. The role was for "a student-athlete who has exhausted his or her eligibility in the sport or has become injured to the point that he or she is unable to practice or compete ever again."

In other words, it was a favor for an athlete who had had a run of bad luck and wanted to start a coaching career. The job would be to observe and coach, but participate in practice as an instructor or occasional fill-in.

The chances of this becoming an issue are nil. No one, not even the NCAA, wants to pile on Kanter or any player in a similar situation.

For instance, the NCAA ruled Indiana's Guy-Marc Michel permanently ineligible before the season. IU made Michel a student assistant coach. No one sweats about what exactly he's doing


Read more: http://www.kentucky.com/2011/01/09/15919...z1AaE9Uh8Z