The recent decision of top point guard recruit Brandon Jennings to back out of his commitment to the University of Arizona has sparked yet another debate regarding the entry rules for the NBA draft.
Jennings, who has yet to meet the NCAA requirements for standardized test scores, has signed with the Italian League team Pallacanestro Virtus Roma.
Jennings will forgo his NCAA eligibility and presumably throw his name into the 2009 NBA Draft's hat, where he is currently projected as a high-lottery selection.
While terms of the contract remained undisclosed, one can assume that Jennings will receive a paycheck that will safely launch his money-making career.
The move by Jennings was surprising to some. Why would a Southern California-born player with legitimate NBA talent miss out on the opportunity to star at a Top 25 program and lead his team to March Madness? To others, the move was only surprising because many expected a move like this to happen much earlier.
Since the NBA installed a provision to their draft that required players to be one player year removed from high school graduation, the "one and done" phenomenon has risen to unparalleled heights.
The past two drafts have led to epic debates over "Oden vs. Durant" and "Rose vs. Beasley." Experts, executives, fans and analysts nitpicked every aspect of the debate, and ultimately four freshmen basketball players have completely redesigned the landscape of the NBA draft.
Why even bother going to college one would ask? If a player's commitment to a university is predicated upon the possibility of starring for one year and raising their draft status, why not do the same while earning a six figure salary overseas?
Europe offers a variety of highly competitive leagues that feature former NBA and NCAA players, and fans pour in to stadiums to watch the very best teams. Brandon Jennings will presumably up his draft status by refining his skills, while also driving an enormous amount of press and marketing opportunities for him to capitalize upon.
The prospect of playing overseas with a language barrier is daunting to say the least, but the promise of a $300,000 contract and exposure to playing a sport professionally is at least equally as enticing. Shockingly no prospect of significant notoriety has made this move in recent years.
The fear for college basketball fans is that this will evolve from an exception to a trend.
10 comments Last one added 11 months ago — Leave a Comment
Buckeyes Fan in Happy Valley 11 months ago
Good article...what do you think is the best solution?
Edit Comment Cancel
Brett Lissenden 11 months ago
if I were a good basketball player there's no way I would want to give up any of my collegiate eligibility for the NBA. March Madness is the best thing there is.
Edit Comment Cancel
Cardinal Contributor 11 months ago
Agree to an extent, Brett. Recent top freshman for whatever reason have been attracted to traditionally non-basketball schools (Oden to OSU, Beasley to KSU, and Mayo to USC) which might lead a European team to tell them success is not a guarantee in March Madness. One and done freshman might seek the spotlight a lesser basketball school can offer which in turn doesnt usually mean a deep NCAA run that makes March Madness sp special. Undoubtedly id choose march madness any day, but $100,000+ is pretty tempting too.
Edit Comment Cancel
Quentin McCall 11 months ago
I like how you laid out all the angles here Cardinal.
I like the idea of strengthening the minors and finding a balance between developing players there and protecting players from getting burned in the pros too early.
No matter what, I think this one and done thing needs to be re-visited -- NCAA athletes are supposed to be scholar athletes and should have at least some interest in the "scholar" part.
Edit Comment Cancel
Ryan Gaydos 11 months ago
Or the NBA can be like no you can't leave to go to Europe. Once the NCAA players start going, the good NBA players will go and then the NBA will be in a heap of trouble
Edit Comment Cancel
c s 11 months ago
all im gonna say before i get into details in the title should read:
Brandon Jennings/Josh Childress(or the other players that have gone navarro,delfino,etc) to Europe: The start of an NCAA/NBA Trend?
Edit Comment Cancel
Cardinal Contributor 11 months ago
C--
I am contemplating a follow up article regarding Childress, Delfino, Nochbar etc. It will be interesting to see what happens going forward with more players at least considering going across the pond.
Edit Comment Cancel
c s 11 months ago
can't forget navarro in there, also i don't know if anyone has heard but they are saying is out highly respected anthony parker will be playing in europe too, that means we lost two players!! not worried though as players leave, other players will come back it's very interesting but like i said before this is just the start of an even greater trend of greater and better playes going abroad.....interested in reading your article
Edit Comment Cancel
c s 11 months ago
our*
Edit Comment Cancel
malachy mahoney 11 months ago
And don't forget that the Euro is way more valuable than the dollar these days - many predict it will soon double the dollar in value. So, 500,000 Euro's will then be a million dollar contract. Outside of the money, I'd much rather live in Rome, Milan, Barcelona, etc, then Milwaukee or Sacramento.
Edit Comment Cancel
Leave a Comment
You must register to post a comment.