You can 'clip' from a St. Paul, MN newspaper all day long, but the reality is he wasn't unknown at all. He had several multi-million dollar offers from foreign teams before heading to the U.S. Once he arrived, everyone was immediately on him.
From August 2009:
"For obvious reason it’s going to take Kanter some time to adjust to playing ball in America, but he’s certainly a high major player and a guy that will be recruited by the nation’s best. Actually the circus has already begun.
According to Findlay assistant coach Todd Simon, Tuesday was a hectic day. After the initial Kanter story came out, Simon received and Findlay head coach Mike Peck received phone calls from over 35 schools.
“The last couple days have been a whirlwind,” Simon said. “The amount of interest in recruiting Enes has been astonishing. His reputation as an elite player certainly precedes him but I also think the character he has shown in making this decision makes him even more attractive.”
Among the schools that have already shown interest are UCLA, USC, Kansas, Texas, Arizona, Arizona State, Florida, UCONN, Illinois, Tennessee, Georgetown, UNLV, Oklahoma, Oregon St, Georgia Tech, Marquette, SMU, Arkansas, Memphis, Kentucky, Ohio State, Harvard, George Mason, New Mexico, Florida Atlantic, Georgia, Virginia, Hawaii, TCU, San Diego"
Not to mention he had already committed to Washington.. and then Kentucky, before he 'burst onto the scene'... among schools and scouts, most every one was intrigued late last summer.
