06-25-2008, 05:47 PM
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 | All Pro | | Join Date: Mar 2008 Location: Iowa
Posts: 1,166
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| Preps may choose Europe over college
So what does everyone think of this? Skipping school to outsmart NBA rules - NCAA Basketball - Yahoo! Sports Quote:
A year from Thursday, Brandon Jennings will be, barring injury, an NBA lottery pick.
This Thursday he is expected to receive his standardized test scores that will help influence – but not make – his decision on where to play basketball in the meantime.
Jennings is a blazing fast 6-foot-2 point guard from Compton, Calif. He is one of the top-five high school players in America, having just set single-season scoring marks at hoops powerhouse Oak Hill Academy in Virginia.
The only reason he will not be drafted this week is the NBA’s age limit that prohibits teams from drafting players until they’re at least one year out of high school. Like every other top player, Jennings, should he qualify academically, could go to college (in this case Arizona), pretend to be a student (all he’d need are two D’s in the fall semester) and then bolt to the NBA next spring.
Only Jennings isn’t any other player. He looks at this entire charade for what it is, a system designed to help the NBA and the NCAA make money, but not necessarily provide much for guys such as him (a fit of worldly logic that ought to define his intelligence more accurately than the college boards).
As a result, he just might turn the thing on its ear. Even if he does academically qualify, he is strongly considering telling college hoops, “no thanks,” and either spending the year playing professionally in Europe or Israel, or signing with an agent and working out with personal trainers and coaches.
“For a person that plays ball, our dream is to get to the NBA,” Jennings told The New York Times. “College is like, ‘OK, we’ll do this one year, but our real mind-set is that we’re trying to get to the league, take care of our families.’
“They’re making us do college … I told my mom that (going to Europe) was something we should look into. Going overseas, it seems like a good idea. I think people just develop better over there.”
They also get paid in Europe, which doesn’t happen, at least above the table, in the NCAA. In making money, Jennings could also make history.
That said, Arizona is still the most likely destination; Jennings plans to enroll in a summer high school next week to help with his eligibility. All options are on the table though.
Jennings could be a trailblazer, much like Kevin Garnett, who became the first high school player in two decades to declare for the NBA draft after failing to qualify academically in 1995. At the time, Garnett was written off as a rare phenomenon. Soon enough though, the draft was filled with preps-to-pros candidates.
NBA commissioner David Stern, eager to return to the days when college basketball promoted his future stars for free, worked the age limit into the collective bargaining agreement and forced kids to school. The NCAA, willing to sell its soul for talent, gleefully accepted these “student-athletes.”
For the past two years, it’s been the only way.
Now here comes Jennings though. And don’t think this is just the wistful talk of an 18-year-old. Jennings has not only discussed this with his mother, but is surrounded by some experienced advisors and some savvy basketball people.
The greatest challenge, they say, will be finding the right coach and team for Jennings in Europe. The money is there – a six-figure Euro contract. His stick-it-to-the-system move will likely pay off in a shoe endorsement deal.
Whether this will happen remains to be seen. That it can happen is undeniable though.
Even more intriguing, Jennings may set a trend immediately. One powerful basketball insider said at least two other top-20 national prospects are considering Europe with Jennings.
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