Brandon Jennings is taking a bold but potentially brilliant move

It’s a strange thought. Laving the United States at age 18 to become a professional overseas.

This is the path before Brandon Jennings, an 18-year old basketball player who has committed to play basketball at the University of Arizona but has not earned a high enough standardized exam score to attend.  His choice to play professionally overseas will force him to take a far more difficult test than any college professor could ever require.

At a US college Jennings would be treated like an idol. He could take 12 easy credits, use tutors, and then slack off second semester as the draft approached.

Coeds would flock to him, knowing him by reputation as an athlete and a future NBA millionaire. A tough coach could make his life somewhat difficult but in the end he would be surrounded by people his age and be the biggest name on his campus.

Instead he will take a different path.

In Europe he will be confronted with a far different situation. His teammates will be grown men and few will stand in awe of him. Europeans tend to root fiercely for teams and are not shy about ripping athletes they think are not performing well.

Coaches can be cold to American players, expecting them to deliver better results than their European counterparts. Team executives ands staff likewise tend to be less protective than NBA teams or college athletic departments.

In opposing stadiums he will be greeted with objects thrown from the stands (a favorite is coins heated up on cigarette lighters), and merciless boos. His travel and hotel accommodations will be below the standards of even some AAU teams, not to mention the rundown state of many of the gyms and facilities he will play in and use.

Beyond that, the transition into another culture should be quite jarring for the young man. Trying to complete simple tasks, like buying food and finding one’s way around, in a foreign language will be difficult. He will also be separated from family by a continent and an ocean, a long way for someone who has never lived away from home.

This move could easily break Jennings, sending him home mid-season, looking for the comforts of family and familiar surroundings and creating questions about his maturity.

Why then, one must wonder, should he try this? A junior college could provide an easier path to the NBA, providing the necessary buffer year between high school and pro basketball.

The answer to that question is that, while the risks are great, the payoff is so much greater.

The first benefit is the money that Jennings stands to make, probably better money than the salaries paid to US minor league ballplayers. The real reward however would come in the measure of Jennings’ character.

Too many times the NBA has seen young players washout due the pressures of money, travel and playing pro ball. Kwame Brown and Tracy McGrady were some of the many who struggled adjusting to the NBA where coaches were hard on them and living on their own is a new challenge.

The one year of college rule was instituted to help with this but it only does so much. College players are still protected by the bubble of the athletic department and further encased in the campus and student body.

Jennings in contrast will be thrown right into the fire. He will need to quickly adjust to the jump across the Atlantic, forced to play against far tougher teams than he has ever faced and learning to live as an adult at the same time.

If he survives all this, he will come out a stronger person and leave no question as to his readiness to become an NBA player.

His breadth of life experience will dwarf those of his fellow draftees and he will be better able to appreciate all the trappings of playing for the world’s top basketball league.

So for those who attack this choice, just stop. Brandon Jennings is taking a risk by playing abroad but if he gets through it, his success will radiate beyond athletics and making him a stronger and more complete person.