John Calipari's tenure at Kentucky will likely begin the same way his tenure at Memphis ended, with an NCAA investigation into the eligibility of his point guard.According to an ESPN report, the NCAA is investigating the eligibility of Wildcat freshman John Wall. At issue is whether benefits from his AAU coach, who is also licensed as an agent by FIBA, should be considered illegal and therefore threaten Wall's amateur status.
Should Wall be found guilty of accepting illegal benefits, he would be forced to pay back the amount before becoming eligible at Kentucky and could face further punishment.
If the amount owed is greater than $101, Wall would be forced to miss 10 percent of Kentucky's games.
Wall's AAU coach, Brian Clifton, told CBSSports.com that he did have an agent's license, but forfeited in 2008 to concentrate on Wall's future. But, according to the ESPN report, Kentucky officials are concentrating on a pair of unofficial visits made by Wall in the fall of 2007.
Earlier in the summer, Kentucky self-reported athletes who were getting comped at a local restaurant. None of the amounts in that case surpassed $100 and thus did not effect eligibility.
If Kentucky were to lose Wall for any significant period of time, they could turn to the nation's No. 3 ranked point guard in last year's high school class, Eric Bledsoe.
Kentucky opens its season Friday, the 13th, against Morehead State.
