PG Jennings heading for Europe instead of playing for AZ Uni.

[suspect]

i guess this is gonna be the new "big trend." Since the NBA made it mandatory for players to be at least one year removed from their graduating high school class a lot of players were going to college with intentions of just playing one year then jumping to the pros. but now Jennings decided to go pro in europe making that $$$ instead of playing for free for some school. i agree with his decision, its the smart thing to do. i see this happening a lot more in the future.

Arizona signee Brandon Jennings has decided to make an unprecedented move to forgo playing in college and instead pursue a professional career in Europe next season before likely entering the 2009 NBA draft, Jenning's attorney, Jeff Valle, told ESPN.com on Tuesday night.

"Over the course of the last two months I have consulted a number of people in basketball before coming to this decision," Jennings said in a statement released through Valle. "I would like to thank the University of Arizona for their interest and support through this process."

Jennings, a Los Angeles native who played his final two high school seasons at Oak Hill Academy in Mouth of Wilson, Va., was rated as the nation's top point guard in the class of 2008, according to ESPN.com.

Valle said Jennings will not even wait for his third standardized test result to see if he got a qualifying score after his second test was questioned by the NCAA. The results from the third test are due later this week.

"That's a moot point now," Valle said. "He's not going to the University of Arizona. Brandon plans on going to Europe."

Valle said a number of European teams have expressed an interest in signing Jennings for next season. Valle declined to say which teams and in which countries.

Valle said that the family will consult with Sonny Vaccaro and likely sign with an agent to help facilitate a contract with a European professional team. Vaccaro is considered the godfather of grassroots basketball, having worked for all three major sneaker companies -- Nike, adidas and Reebok -- who sponsor high school summer basketball events.

Jennings was expected to be the starting point guard for Arizona after Jerryd Bayless left for the NBA draft. The Wildcats also return Chase Budinger after he withdrew from the draft as well as Hall of Fame coach Lute Olson after he took a leave of absence last season.

"We're disappointed in terms of Brandon's decision, but we want to wish him the best of luck," Olson said in a statement. "We hope that things turn out well for him in the future."

Under an NBA draft rule put in place two years ago, Jennings has to be out of high school at least one calendar year and be 19 years old before being eligible for the NBA draft.

Andy Katz is a senior writer at ESPN.com

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

[DUMBOUT]

yo dawg dat lil nigga is hard fuckin core i seen dat nigga play in new york 1 time,kid is a str8 assist machine and a baller

[captain19]

A.K.A.

Pimp Father on RGF



Good luck bro...

[ubercool]

hes good but who knows what kinda attitude this kid has

[Phila76erFan]

little exposure,little money in europe vs mass exposure playing against his peers whom would likely be in the same draft as him , playing to his level equalling my more money in the long run


sounds like he just want to get some money in his pocket
if hes in need of it then go for it

but if this is just out of greed he would have been better off going to college for a year
more exposure = more dollars

[DUMBOUT]

shit ngga comin from compton,my guess is nigga gotta hurry up in get dat gwop i read a article a while back his family aint doin good finacially so u wanna be able to provide for his family,ill do the same thang though

[jbzy]

Originally Posted by Phila76erFan

little exposure,little money in europe vs mass exposure playing against his peers whom would likely be in the same draft as him , playing to his level equalling my more money in the long run


sounds like he just want to get some money in his pocket
if hes in need of it then go for it

but if this is just out of greed he would have been better off going to college for a year
more exposure = more dollars

what you said definitely makes sense, hopefully for him this doesn't push NBA teams away for the '09-10 season.

Originally Posted by DUMBOUT

shit ngga comin from compton,my guess is nigga gotta hurry up in get dat gwop i read a article a while back his family aint doin good finacially so u wanna be able to provide for his family,ill do the same thang though

i seen him in interviews and shit, he comes off as a snobby rich kid TBH. so i always assumed he had money, i'm sure since he started going to oak hill his family has been taken care of. i could be wrong... hopefully he shines in the NBA as well

[Nyx__]

little exposure,little money in Europe vs mass exposure playing against his peers whom would likely be in the same draft as him , playing to his level equalling my more money in the long run

How many times have we seen foreign clubs play up to par if not better than NBA players? In international play where do you think these guys play during the year? They are out there playing in Europe, Spain, etc. Not sitting around waiting for the next FIBA or Olympic championships. You can't tell me that these players that don't just rival the NBA players but can out play them aren't more competition than a massive collection of amateurs playing against amatuers? That makes no sense.

And about the money...google Ricky Rubio. The kid is 17 years old and has 1 million euro sponsorship offers(from Nike I believe), 5-6 million euro contract offers to play pro in Spain and he JUST finished high school. If you can play, you will get your money internationally. 6 million euros is roughly 9.5 million dollars, it's definitely not little money. Hell, it's not too uncommon to see a good Spanish/European player making anywhere from from 4.2 million euros to 750k euros. (Roughly 6.6 million US dollars to 1.2 million dollars)

If he can play, not only will he have better competition but he will get his money. So in his case if he's the real deal, he will get his cake and eat it too.

Originally Posted by Phila76erFan

sounds like he just want to get some money in his pocket
if hes in need of it then go for it

but if this is just out of greed he would have been better off going to college for a year
more exposure = more dollars

Plenty of international basketball stars have been drafted in the NBA not only as first rounders, but we've seen some very high draft picks, in the NBA your first two years are guaranteed which means after those two you've accumulated anywhere between the #1 pick is getting 8.5 million total I believe and #30 getting about 1.7 million.

Exposure is not a problem. We see international players drafted up all the time. If he can play, he will get his money in the NBA.

In the NBA where you have set rookie salaries, talent = money. Rookie salaries are set in stone, if they want the big contracts they better work for them in the NBA. 2008 Rookie Salaries: http://www.mynbadraft.com/nba-rookie...scale-2008/101

[Red Falcon]

He's a lottery pick either way.

I think playing in Europe will make him a better player but will knock him a few spots on the draft board because he just won't get the playing time there that he would have at Arizona.

It's also going to be a huge culture shock. He's gonna have to learn a foreign language and adjust to a different culture. Best of luck to him.