Eligibility Issues For Top Basketball Recruits At Kentucky, Miss State

October 23, 2009 12:24 p.m. EST

Two top Southeastern Conference freshman basketball players are facing eligibility questions.

Kentucky's John Wall and Mississippi State's Renardo Sidney are dealing with their amateur status, or lack thereof.

SEC commissioner Mike Slive says both recruits have issues to work out.

Sidney's eligibility has been in the air for some time now. MSU compliance director Bracky Brett says that he has been practicing, but he isn't eligible to compete.

Wall's situation is rather new, but Kentucky has been looking into it for months because his former AAU coach was a certified agent.

"Those are amateur issues that arose prior to their coming to our schools," Slive said. "Those are strictly amateurism issues. As we told our people, somebody needs to determine if they are eligible."

The NCAA prohibits a perspective student athlete from receiving benefits from an agent.

If the AAU coach was an agent, questions may loom about the athlete needed to repay whatever benefits he/she received from said agent to remain armature status and become eligible.

? If an individual accepts significant monetary benefits from an agent, his or her eligibility should not be reinstated.

? If an individual accepts benefits from an agent that are not significant enough to warrant permanent ineligibility, the student-athlete will be withheld for the violation and will be required to repay the value of the benefits.

Brian Clifton, Wall's AAU coach, said he was an agent, but surrendered his license in 2008 to devote his efforts to the AAU program.

Kentucky is dating back to 2007 to see how much money might be owed Clifton to keep Wall eligible.