http://sports.espn.go.com/ncb/news/story?id=3479195

Jennings, top PG in high school was to go to Arizona next year, but is now looking to Europe, then hopes to be in the NBA draft the next year.

Kind of circumventing the "go to college for at least a year" rule...but it has been talked about happening at some point. This kid is still waiting on his third crack at the SAT (his second result was "questioned"), but his attorney said that it is a moot point and that he's going to Europe anyways.

Will be interesting to see if this creates a trend.

7/9/2008 10:32:42 AM

rape the system before it rapes you

7/9/2008 10:33:12 AM

I hope it creates a trend, but only for players that commit to play for UNC.

edit: really i think this will only effect players too lazy to try and qualify academically and go to college for a year. it's not that hard and i think most uneducated kids from the US don't want to go and live in Europe for a year away from their families even if they are getting paid 7 figures.

[Edited on July 9, 2008 at 10:55 AM. Reason : edit]

7/9/2008 10:49:17 AM

there was talk of oj mayo doing this, as well.

7/9/2008 10:55:01 AM

He probably made more at USC than he would have in Europe anyways

7/9/2008 11:02:18 AM

sadly, this is very true.

7/9/2008 11:06:27 AM

how is it sad?

the NBA rule fucked him, so he's fucking back. the one year rule is one of the worst things to happen to sports in the last half century IMO

7/9/2008 11:17:15 AM

^ I think ^^ was referring to ^^^ being sad.

7/9/2008 11:43:51 AM

I really can't see this as viable. I know you are getting money to play in Europe and you don't get paid to play in college (well, you aren't supposed to), but you won't get anywhere near the exposure you'd get playing college ball. It won't really matter as far as draft money is concerned because the first contract is meager, but endorsements will favor the kids who have the limelight in the US.

Not that that won't stop kids from going to Europe, just my take on the opportunity. If you're like Jennings, who won't qualify, then Europe would be a good option.

7/9/2008 12:02:19 PM

^ if you read the OP, he's having trouble getting into college at all.

7/9/2008 12:03:45 PM

^^Read original post. Gotlieb is also agreeing with you in an article. He said it would hurt his draft stock but probably improve his quality of play.

7/9/2008 12:09:12 PM

How many times does this kid have to take the SAT?? Damn....maybe the NBA should just institute a rule saying you have to make a certain grade on the SAT to be eligible right out of high school - instead of the 1-rule BS

7/9/2008 12:18:43 PM

I wonder if the European leagues will force him to accept a multiyear contract. They probably wont like the "one and done" thing there either

7/9/2008 12:29:18 PM

Quote :

"if you read the OP, he's having trouble getting into college at all."

did you read my post?

Quote :

"like Jennings, who won't qualify"

Quote :

"Gotlieb is also agreeing with you in an article."

I didn't see the article or a link to it. Could you provide a link?

7/9/2008 2:55:07 PM

Quote :

"the NBA rule fucked him, so he's fucking back. the one year rule is one of the worst things to happen to sports in the last half century IMO"

I know right! And who the hell does IBM think it is asking me to have a college degree before I can work for them?!?!
[/sarcasm]

7/9/2008 4:18:14 PM

Quote :

"you won't get anywhere near the exposure you'd get playing college ball"

certainly not to the average american, and also not as much to NBA front offices...however you see foreign players getting drafted all the time...some of the best players in the league are foreign (Dirk, Yao, Parker, etc)

7/9/2008 4:30:17 PM

teams search across the globe looking for good players to draft, but the money you get when you are first drafted is usually much less than what you get for your second contract. my point was the endorsements from shoe companies, athletic wear, and other businesses can mean big bucks, a lot more than the initial contract. however, if you are going to be the face of their company, your face has to be known. this is where exposure from the NCAA is going to matter a lot more than playing for money with Euro teams. Hardly anyone watches Professional European basketball, but a ton of people watch college ball, especially during march madness.

in summation, by staying in the US for one year, a player can likely increase their financial gain over their first three years in the league. brandon is free to prove me wrong.

7/9/2008 4:42:42 PM

damn, Zona is gonna suck this season


paging my2centz

7/9/2008 4:46:32 PM

Yeah, you're definitely going to be in position for a better endorsement if you're playing for a good team and get them to the title game like Rose did this year. It's a smarter (pun intended) career path to go to college and get free exposure in the US.

7/9/2008 4:59:47 PM

i agree on the endorsement point, i hadnt thought of that

still, the idea of getting paid good money for playing basketball while probably pulling tons of foreign tang is appealing...heck maybe you could get some European endorsements

7/9/2008 5:03:03 PM

Quote :

"however, if you are going to be the face of their company, your face has to be known."

Anyone who is a little more than a casual fan has known what this guy looks like for at least a year.

Does anyone not think this guy is going to be a huge draw in Europe???? This is a pretty big story over there, you know. Lot of teams are looking at this dude.

Quote :

"damn, Zona is gonna suck this season paging my2centz"

Hahaha, for reals.... You want to talk about exposure and having your face known/endorsements, etc.???

Chase Budinger originally committed to UCLA and went to UA instead. How's that working out for him? Dude would have gone in the top 10 this year if he was a Bruin, now he gets to enjoy a wonderful season under Lute and all of his new assistants. Meanwhile, Westbrook and Love go 4 and 5, and they'll have a couple more lottery picks next year.

[Edited on July 9, 2008 at 5:20 PM. Reason : d]

7/9/2008 5:15:55 PM

man i don't know why the fuck you wouldn't do this...europe is the shit, ten times better than college. plus you're getting paid to play a game, then you can bounce to the nba. props to the guy.

7/9/2008 5:31:16 PM

Also, I'm pretty sure Ricky Rubio won't be scrounging for change over here, once he goes #1 in 2010.

7/9/2008 5:40:53 PM

woops, meant 2009

7/9/2008 6:29:44 PM

I'd love to see this happen more often. Leave college ball to kids who will actually stay for 4 years and get a degree, and let those who just want to play go pro whenever they want.

7/9/2008 8:06:27 PM

.

[Edited on July 9, 2008 at 8:40 PM. Reason : .]

7/9/2008 8:38:29 PM

I would like to say that not everyone is meant to go to college. Also, if they are any good in the NBA they will get to do endorsments. On top of that, Bryant and James never played in college, but everyone knew who they were and James was doing advertisements right away. If you are good then people will know who you are. Even if he plays in Europe the rest of his life, he will still make more money than I do each year.

7/9/2008 8:53:21 PM

i agree with your post except you cant really compare them to Kobe and Lebron because they came out of high school under a different set of rules...plus they're arguable the 2 best players in the league but i dunno

7/9/2008 9:08:40 PM

The Brandon Jennings effect...w/ a twist

http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/news?slug=aw-childressgreece072108&prov=yhoo&type=lgns

7/21/2008 2:12:19 PM

lol childress isn't worth $20mil/3years

7/21/2008 2:15:22 PM

so Europe is throwing tons of money at mediocre NBA players? smart decision by the players. if they can make more money elsewhere and can stand living in another country, why not go for it?

7/21/2008 2:17:18 PM

Quote :

"I'd love to see this happen more often. Leave college ball to kids who will actually stay for 4 years and get a degree, and let those who just want to play go pro whenever they want."

wow, you're a faggot...get your head out of your ass. gotta love the people who still think that college basketball isn't a business.

i'm sure you're an engineering major, and i bet you wouldn't have left college after one year if some lame ass company offered you $3+ mill a year to work on some bullshit, because you respect your piece of paper much more than money.

my dick, suck it.

7/21/2008 2:29:32 PM

^haha, how do you really feel on the subject?

I agree though about how anyone would leave school early if given their contract opportunities

[Edited on July 21, 2008 at 2:32 PM. Reason : .]

7/21/2008 2:30:42 PM

HEY, WHO LET THE TWELVE YEAR OLD POST?

7/21/2008 3:03:26 PM

With the exchange rate and the tax breaks...a lot of these players could make more money playing overseas. Financially, it's a great idea.

If I was a mediocre NBA player in my early to mid-20s without a wife and kids, I'd do it in a heartbeat. But I love Europe and would love to be over there for a few years. I bet 95% of NBA players could give two shits about ever going to Europe.

7/21/2008 3:04:25 PM

Someone else mentioned it earlier, but Europe will definitely put a stop this circumvention quickly. Might take them up to 5 years but at some point they will put a heavy tax fine or huge contractual obligations on these types of players. One and done in Europe would not set well for the financial needs/gains of those teams.

I have a friend who plays in Spain...he's not excited about this idea.

Also, ego-inflated-dumb as a box of rocks american ball players will not fit in well on a good European team. They still believe in team basketball...not thug street ball.

7/21/2008 5:38:15 PM

He signed with an Italian pro team in Rome.

I don't know how hyped this kid is in Rome, Italy, but I'd have to believe that he is going to cause a stir and put some butts in the seats. He'll sign a two or three year contract but will have a clause that will allow him to enter the 2009 draft.

I would seriously doubt that this particular team/league would put him under contract if they felt like they'd get burned if (and likely when) he leaves after one year.

Quote :

"Jennings said he was told the contract would be in the two- to three-year range. He wasn't aware of the financial terms. Jennings' family attorney, Los Angeles-based Jeff Valle, said in a statement Wednesday that the multiyear contract would have NBA release provisions that would be fair to both parties."

7/21/2008 5:56:27 PM

Wow so Childress officially signed with that European team today

Pretty big news in the scope of things...but you'd think that if some Euroleague team wanted to make a splash, they'd target someone a little better than Josh Fucking Childress.

7/23/2008 10:52:30 AM

He signed with Olympiakos in Greece. Most lucrative contract in league history, haha. He's not that bad, but deserving of a higher contract than what he would've gotten with the Hawks???

7/23/2008 11:11:16 AM

The issue isn't as much about the money, its that the Hawks would likely have matched any offer he was given by another NBA team b/c hes a RFA & he doesn't like playing with the Hawks.

7/23/2008 11:22:49 AM

Quote :

"They still believe in team basketball...not thug street ball."

Might be looking at it the wrong way, if players go to Europe they know they need to do well and be successful(at least to some extent) in Europe to keep their high draft stock. So maybe this will instead force players to learn the team game. Probably not but maybe.

7/23/2008 11:50:59 AM

Quote :

"they still believe in team basketball...not thug street ball."

So just cause a kid rocks a high top fade, he plays thug street ball??

[Edited on July 23, 2008 at 12:41 PM. Reason : .]

7/23/2008 12:41:35 PM

A woman said it, not worth debating.

7/23/2008 12:45:32 PM

The next to go [back] overseas?

http://www.fannation.com/truth_and_rumors/view/59535

7/25/2008 8:38:39 AM

i would really love to see something similar to the champions league for basketball (except global, obviously).

7/25/2008 9:25:31 AM