Brandon Jennings instantly became a household name this season when he made the decision to bypass playing at the University of Arizona in favor of playing professionally in Europe. Jennings' said that he didn't have the SAT scores necessary to be admitted to Arizona. Without Arizona as an option and with the NBA's 19 year/plus one rule preventing him from entering the NBA Draft until 2009, Jennings turned to Europe. So far Jennings has had very modest numbers averaging 4.9 points and 3.0 assists in 17.3 minutes. Because of his modest start, some individuals are beginning to question Jennings move. Here's the Washington Times' Barker Davis with his doubts:
The long-term wisdom of his career choice remains questionable. Instead of enjoying a high-profile role at Arizona, where he would have served as the Wildcats' primary perimeter complement to versatile forward Chase Budinger, he's struggling to earn minutes for a 4-4 squad in the Italian League. As a result, his draft stock is falling.Davis tries to prove his statement that Jennings move remains questionable by referencing an anonymous NBA Scout:
"He began the season in the top 10 on everybody's board, but his slow start has everyone re-evaluating," an NBA scout said at the Old Spice Classic.
I think Davis and other doubters in the mainstream media are wrong to conclude Jennings made a mistake by playing in Europe. First of all, I never trust one random scout's opinions. From experience I know that if you talk to ten different scouts about a particular player, you might get ten different opinions. Next, check out every single respectable NBA Draft site and there is not one that has Jennings out of their top ten.
As well, by all accounts, the competition in Europe is much better than the NCAA. Jennings is playing in a very tough PROFESSIONAL system while not having to worry about keeping up with the rigors of college academics. And he's able to do this while making over $1 million in salary and endorsement money.
So let's weigh the options: Play in Europe and make $1 million and still get select as a lottery pick the next season or go to Arizona where the program is in turmoil and make no money?
And from everything that has been reported Arizona probably wasn't even a choice for Jennings because of his SAT scores. If that's true, Europe was basically Jennings only option.
The bottom line is barring some kind of injury there is no way that Jennings is not a top ten pick in this year's draft. And after Jennings proves that Europe won't hurt his draft stock, don't be surprised if you see tons of other preps bypass the NCAA in favor of a paid basketball internship in Europe.
Comments (Page 1 of 1)
I agree. Jennings may not be killin' it in Italy, but he isn't losing any value, either. He's still widely talented, and he made as good a decision by going pro overseas than if he would have committed to Arizona.
As long as Jennings doesn't rush his development as a basketball player (read: entering the 2009 NBA Draft), he's making the right move. His choice to go to Europe in light of what Arizona is going through as a program has proven to be brilliant, he's making nice coin in Italy w/his salary and Under Armour endorsement (w/no taxes), and he's in an environment conducive to growing as a player. The only thing left for him to do is dominate, which he isn't doing with those "modest numbers" in limited minutes. If he comes to the NBA next season, he'll probably be thrown to the wolves and will take a few years to find his ballast, but if he honors his 3-year deal and then declares in 2011, there's no telling how SICK he could be -- a bona fide franchise point basically from jump. So, what's the rush? Basically, it's coming down to ego and public pressure, 'cause he doesn't really have any other excuse as to why he'd need to go to The League -- "Quicker Max Salary" argument be damned.