Besides as the first high schooler with NBA potentail to go over there. The press will be tracking him like hound dogs if nothing else but the human interest story.
Everyone obviously has their opinion. Jennings is a very impressive player IMO. I have seen a ton of him to make this judgement. I'm not just talking about seeing him once or twice. That being said, how he performs in workouts for NBA teams when he comes back for Europe will determine his draft stock. Going to Eupore will only hurt him if he chooses not to work hard and improve his game. Until a little more then halfway through the season OJ Mayo was being billed as overrated by a ton of people. However, those people failed to realize the situation he was in. It ended up working out for him and his impressive draft workouts and the time he spent with Tim Grover got him back where he needed to be. Again, Jennings is an extremely talented guy. He can be selfish at times but he's a guy who can take a game over. If he comes back stronger and works out well he's still a lottery guy IMO. He's too gifted to pass up (unless he goes to Europe and does something stupid or gets lazy).
He hasn't cost himself millions, because of all the attention he will get by basically being the first. I do think it may indeed be the exception, but if the NBA goes to a 2 year after high school moritorium, it will be the tip of the iceberg instead. DD
DaDakota - if he plays in the low Euro minors ths past season - who gets more press and drafted first - him or Derrick Rose? How many American sports fans knew who Rose was in March? How many know that Mike Batiste is one of the best big men in Europe? Millions of dollars have been lost - all cause he couldn't get a simple 530 on his SAT. Derrick Rose & Michael Beasley - are they rich now because they are workout warriors?
I remember seeing him play in the Houston vs the Nation tournament at the Campbell center when Oak Hill lost to Yates. He's got some offensive talent but his defense was downright terrible. The guards from Yates were taking it right to him. I know I was watching a high school game but for the #1 pg prospect in the country I expected a little more.
I thought he had to get 750....not 530...? Also, going to Arizona does not guarantee he will get Rose style of press or even Mayo style. This is uncharted waters, what if he does go over there and dominate? Does that open the flood gates? At the very least it is an interesting story and one that will encourage close scrutiny. DD
No, they're rich because because they have great basketball talent. They would have been high lottery picks if they had skipped school and went straight to the NBA. Jennings would have been a lottery pick as well.
And they are making more money now because they went to college and separated themselves from the pack. Last year they would have been mere afterthoughts after Oden & Durant and probably a number of others as well. But not only did they improve their draft position -they improved their marketability. The NCAA tournament is one of the highest profile sporting events in the entire country - it enables them to rack up high profile endorsements out of the gate. That is something that playing in a low-level European league with 200 person stadiums will NOT ever be able to do.
Name the others. Beasley and Rose would have been top 5 picks. Mayo would have been up there as well. Except Horford, nobody would have been a threat to go in front of those three. Conley ahead of Rose or Mayo? No chance. Beasley would have been hard to pass up in front of Horford but Horford may have been the choice. Durant benefitted from college. Oden would have been the number 1 pick regardless. In fact, even after having one of the best Freshman season's in the history of college basketball, the Blazers still chose Oden over Durant. I'm not backing Jennings choice if that's what you are thinking. I'm simply saying that if he does what he is supposed to do and comes back in shape and with an improved game then it won't effect his draft status much if any. Look at Westbrook. Seattle traded all the way up to 4 to get him based on potential alone. Teams live off that as we have all seen. Sometimes it pans out, sometimes it doesn't.
Why should I have too? 1-2 are higher picks than 3, 4, 5 - even if we take your suggestion that they would have been consensus top 3-5 without the grain of salt that it needs (Beasley - a 6-7 high school power forward, a lock to be the top 5 pick last year? REally truly, over all the other PFs? ) And why am I supposed to believe Rose is going to go any higher than say Sebastian Telfair or Martell Webster- the track record for high school PG's in the NBA is abysmal. Big men and swingmen out of HS is one thing - but teams have been very reticent about taking PG's out of high school - with good reason. There's a very high chance Conley would have passed him up. And like I said before - they are now household names. College only helped them in the end.
Pete Thamel of the New York Post also reports that the possible destination of the young man may be Italy and that he can eventually sign for about 300,000USD. If he is saying Italy because it is the only country in Europe he knows or because he has some inside information could not been verified but the question remains how can a US born teenager impact on the European level. You can say that Ricky Rubio is also doing his job at the same age but the Spanish kid has grown up here in Europe. http://www.ballineurope.com/us-basketball/nba/official-brandon-jennings-will-play-in-europe/
Pete Thamel works for the times and is the college sports guy - he is just talking out of his arse and probably repeating what his agent said.
He might well be..and here are some other quotes from his article from the NY Times. http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/08/sports/basketball/08hoops.html?_r=2&oref=slogin&oref=slogin “If it turns out to be successful, there would be more going,” Connecticut Coach Jim Calhoun said. “It will not just be your eyes as a reporter and my eyes as a coach watching. It will be all the eyes of basketball, particularly the eyes of young people, saying, ‘Is that a great way to get experience?’ ” Other players are watching Jennings. One of the top players in the class of 2009 is Lance Stephenson, who has led Brooklyn’s Lincoln High School to three consecutive New York City championships. Stephenson is considering a conventional list of colleges — Texas, U.C.L.A., Southern California, Memphis, Texas and St. John’s — but is expected to only spend one season in college before heading to the N.B.A. Stephenson’s father, Lance Sr., said Monday in a telephone interview that he and his son would be following Jennings’s decision closely. “For me and my wife, we just get the information and talk to Lance and let him make the decision on that,” he said. “We’re looking at it and we’re interested just like anyone else.” DeMar DeRozan, a U.S.C. signee, is considered the best scorer in the freshman class. DeRozan, a 6-6 forward, is expected to fill much of the scoring void left by O. J. Mayo, who left the Trojans after a year and was the No. 3 pick in the draft. The problem is that DeRozan has said he has not qualified academically to play at U.S.C., which Trojans Coach Tim Floyd confirmed. While DeRozan said he was solely focused on playing college basketball, it is plausible that Europe could become an option. “It put thoughts in a lot of players’ heads when they see Brandon going over there and doing something like that,” DeRozan said.
A USC recruit didn't meet academic requirements? What's that mean, he can't spell his name? USC probably has some of the dumbest people on earth in their sports program..and coincidentally like 85% of their students non-athletic are legacy students.
