And the European Experiment Begins
College Basketball, NBA July 9th. 2008, 11:55am
Upon seeing this tattoo on the back of prized high school recruit Brandon Jennings, should we really be surprised he’s chosen European basketball over college? Between the tat and not qualifying academically, this isn’t jaw-dropping news. Guess the question now is what European team wants to rent a flashy point guard who has zero intent of staying longer than a season?The NY Times is floating the thought that Jennings’ decision could be a watershed moment, and many quality points are made (especially the one about the weak US dollar). But how many 18-year-olds can handle going from high school to living on your own in Europe? Did any of them see how much soccer star Landon Donovan hated it? It’s one thing to play in college for a few years, then ride an NBA bench for a few years before going to Euro to make a career out of it in your late 20s. But a teenager?
We’re more curious about how the European teams handle this. Will they really be willing to give a player $300,000 for one year of service, knowing that said player is simply coming there to show NBA scouts what they’re made of? Have European teams expressed interest in American high school players?
Let’s say Jennings gets a one-year contract, plays well, banks a few hundred K, and then is a lottery pick. How much will the NCAA worry that other upper echelon prep talents will follow his lead? (We had this brain fart about the NCAA thinking about finally paying revenue-generating sports teams, but Title IX and greed got in the way.) Regardless of Jennings’ success, can you really see a flood of high schoolers eschewing college for a European payday?
Problem is, there were what, a dozen NBA draft picks last month who played just one year of college? Could the numbers spike to 30-40 kids attempting this, when you take into account non-qualifiers who go the junior college/prep school route?
81 Responses to “And the European Experiment Begins”
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July 9th, 2008 at 11:58 am
several teams have reportedly expressed interest in him, so yes.
personally i think this is great. he DID qualify academically but they disputed his scores, if i didnt cheat i would probably take offense to that too (not that we know if he did cheat). but i hate the one year rule and would love to see it backfire on stern.
July 9th, 2008 at 12:00 pm
I like Jennings because he’s humble and modest.
July 9th, 2008 at 12:01 pm
also lets not act like ‘young money’ is an exception. the vast majority of top recruits want that money, its time to drop the ‘theyre doing it for the love of the game’ naive bullshit
going to europe for one year is more honest than going to college for one year
July 9th, 2008 at 12:01 pm
Good for him, if he can get paid. He’s giving up a year of being the BMOC at a Pac-10 school for a nice paycheck. I’d imagine it’s a tough decision but you can’t really blame him.
Now … it would be kind of funny if he stunk it up in Europe and busted down to the second round of the draft.
July 9th, 2008 at 12:02 pm
This is going to be something that becomes more common, but not rampant. Most of the kids that think they are upper level, aren’t good enough to play in europe. But, the ones that can are the ones that the NCAA and Stern should be worried about. Why not go make some cheddar while improving your game playing against pro european players. Even if you have an off year you are going to improve your basketball basics in europe.
July 9th, 2008 at 12:03 pm
Why should the NCAA and NBA be worried? How does this hurt them?
July 9th, 2008 at 12:05 pm
I think most kids would rather stay in the states and do their year of college,partying along with their “peers.” It seems this guy’s academic situation made that impossible and the NBA forced his hand, so he is going somewhere he can actually play. Taking a year off without playing doesnt work, (Mike Williams/Maurice Clarett) but in a lot of cases espescially, soccer going to Europe as young man doesnt always work when you get stuck on the bench with a language barrier. If he is mature enough it would work, and maybe without the temptations of the familiar surrounding and a posse, this could be a stroke of genius.
July 9th, 2008 at 12:05 pm
CBH - take the 1-and-done players out of last year’s NCAA tourney:
No: Beasley, Rose, Mayo, Love
and that’s just the start.
July 9th, 2008 at 12:07 pm
Clown, did he steal that tattoo from Amare’s neck?
July 9th, 2008 at 12:07 pm
yeah i dont think this hurts the nba, if anything a kid playing in europe rather than college will be better prepared for the reality of the nba.
definitely hurts the ncaa when you lose the top PG to europe.
July 9th, 2008 at 12:07 pm
I don’t mean to say that they should be worried that the competition is going to die off, but the whole reason for the one year rule was to make NCAA money with the big name one and done players and to save the NBA money on draft busts. Now, the NBA doesn’t get to use the NCAA as a minor league for the premier players, and the NCAA is definitely going to lose some watchability without some of these players.
July 9th, 2008 at 12:08 pm
Isn’t Landon Donovan more the exception than the norm? Not all young Americans get homesick over missing their C-list actress girlfriends. (and that’s not even counting all the Brazilians and Argentinians who go to Europe as teenagers)
July 9th, 2008 at 12:08 pm
Why is Jennings tattooing a magazine on his back? Also, I think he’s missing the bigger picture here. Your first year out of high school shouldn’t be about money. It should be about the hot coeds. Second, I’d prefer it if the one and done players head overseas or to some farm system and open up scholarships to serious student athletes
July 9th, 2008 at 12:09 pm
I thought Donovan came back because he couldn’t hang
July 9th, 2008 at 12:11 pm
I don’t see it, the NCAA didn’t lose tons of viewers when guys could just go straight to the NBA, this would be no different.
July 9th, 2008 at 12:11 pm
The NCAA is not worried. It does not rely on “stars.” CBS, ESPN, and the networks may market the star players, but I don’t think that is the appeal of college sports.
July 9th, 2008 at 12:13 pm
hes fucking garbage and couldnt crack a mediocre squad, plus hes a pussy
July 9th, 2008 at 12:14 pm
Good for Jennings. If the NBA wants a minor league system it can develop its own, rather than force kids into the NCAA ranks to line the pockets of the conferences and universities for a year.
College basketball is of better quality with better players, but it’s particularly stupid to keep up this facade of the “student-athlete” in money-making D-I programs.
July 9th, 2008 at 12:14 pm
Also, isn’t it easier to build a name for endorsements when you play for a college? If Durant, Oden, Rose, and Beasley played in Europe, nobody would know who they were
July 9th, 2008 at 12:14 pm
I don’t know. My gut tells me that this greed by both the NCAA and NBA that this will somehow hurt them in some way. Both these agencies, under the table, put this stupid one and done rule in place to make and save money. I may be in the minority, but I only watched the tourny this year for Rose and Beasley. College basketball is not that exciting to watch through the season without these guys, it’s a slow defensive game that doesn’t make for good TV. The tourny has really only been good because of the lower level teams upsetting big teams and taking games to the wire.
July 9th, 2008 at 12:14 pm
I think this defnitely hurts the NBA, thogh not as much as the NCAA. One of the big things that the one year waiting period supposedly did was have the NCAA essentially do the NBA’s marketing for them. Guys like Beasley, Rose, and Anthony became big stars in their one year of college and became instantly recognizable faces of the franchise. If kids start doing their thing in Europe before the draft, the whole PR machine part of the plan would have backfired.
July 9th, 2008 at 12:15 pm
who were the 5 most talked about players in college hoops this season?
beasley
love
mayo
in the ncaa tourney, rose
i dont think this will cripple the ncaa tourney, but it definitely is not good news
July 9th, 2008 at 12:17 pm
why wouldnt some millionaire (or rodney guillory or those creepy twin dudes) start up a pro league that pays a shitload less, but you don’t have to go to college and avoid the one year thing?
seems like there’d be a lot of money in something like that.
July 9th, 2008 at 12:17 pm
Don’t forget Psycho T
July 9th, 2008 at 12:17 pm
Why can’t the NBA develop a true minor league system? There has to be some money in it for them.
July 9th, 2008 at 12:17 pm
TBL, the guys that go to college will still be talked about and will still be made into stars. Casual fans watch the NCAA tournament no matter who is in it. Those 5 you listed could have all missed the tournament and people still would have watched.
July 9th, 2008 at 12:17 pm
Part of my problem with the stupid rule is that kids like this one aren’t going to get anything from school. They are gifted athletes that deserve a short at a pro career when they feel they are ready. They are not looking for an education from a college, so they are taking up a spot on a college roster that a kid who wants to go to school could be using. No one told me I couldn’t join the army when I was teen, or that I couldn’t join a union when I was seventeen to start a career. His just happens to be basketball.
July 9th, 2008 at 12:17 pm
I thought Donovan came back because he couldn’t hang
July 9th, 2008 at 12:18 pm
well thats four sir countsalot
but i think hansbrough got more press than all of them (rightfully so)
July 9th, 2008 at 12:18 pm
Donovan came back after half a season because, for the first time, he wasn’t the best player on the team, one of the worst. He didn’t know how to handle that.
I don’t think the one-year contract is an issue in Europe, they know Americans are trying to get back into the NBA, so a lot of American contracts run month to month even. Even Paul Shirley was making big bucks over there.
July 9th, 2008 at 12:18 pm
Looks like I did that backwards folks…I’ll do better
July 9th, 2008 at 12:19 pm
MickelsonsManBoobs…i love the name, but Mickeltits just rolls off the tongue.
/practices flop shot
July 9th, 2008 at 12:20 pm
“who were the 5 most talked about players in college hoops this season?
beasley
love
mayo
in the ncaa tourney, rose”
Once the tourney started, wasn’t it Stephon Curry?
July 9th, 2008 at 12:21 pm
I think the XFL thought the same thing
July 9th, 2008 at 12:22 pm
Theres only room for one star in Carolina and he wears carolina blue.
July 9th, 2008 at 12:23 pm
Quality of NCAA Basketball suffers but as long as there’s an office pool, CBS and NCAA make plenty of money. More money in Europe than the D-League or the CBA (less than the PAC 10 tho), so why not?
July 9th, 2008 at 12:24 pm
quentin thomas?
July 9th, 2008 at 12:24 pm
Only on Senior night my friend.
July 9th, 2008 at 12:25 pm
There are always going to be stars because the media will generate them. Plus, you actually get to watch these guys develop and if they play for your school, you actually learn about these guys. The young NBA players all seem like assembly line marketing icons
July 9th, 2008 at 12:26 pm
That really rivals the Vince Young tat.
As for kids going to Europe, good, at least they’ll shoot Euro-gang members instead of Americans.
July 9th, 2008 at 12:26 pm
You just had to throw that in there.
July 9th, 2008 at 12:28 pm
right right
so patrick moody then?
July 9th, 2008 at 12:34 pm
If they all left, your NCAA 2007 CBB runner-up is Davidson
July 9th, 2008 at 12:34 pm
Brandon Jennings thinks Young Jeezy is the shit.
July 9th, 2008 at 12:34 pm
You seemed well versed in Carolina, you have an allegience?
July 9th, 2008 at 12:35 pm
Really? didn’t the boys in Blue beat them once last year?
July 9th, 2008 at 12:35 pm
It’s a pretty significant consideration, PurdueMatt… you going to enlighten us on the awesomeness of a devalued dollar?
July 9th, 2008 at 12:36 pm
Why shouldn’t Jennings get paid next year in Europe? Sure if he was Jewish and white he could go to Duke without worrying financially but he is not.
/Whitlocked
July 9th, 2008 at 12:36 pm
Good for Jennings. Hope it works out for him, but I don’t see this as a viable option for all players in Jennings’ position.
One thing a player who does a “one and done” in an American college gets is TV exposure. How many euro league basketball games have you watched lately? What price do you put on the exposure a one-and-done player gets if his team makes the NCAA tourney? More or less than 300K?
July 9th, 2008 at 12:36 pm
Um, Mrs. Curry was the star of the tournament, you all know that.
July 9th, 2008 at 12:37 pm
I think Mark Cuban pitched this before but a minor league style maybe via a European teams should be way more aggresive with American players and lock them up at younger ages 14-16. It will be profitable when nba teams draft them for the buyouts. Imagine if you have Rose, Beasley Mayo on your Real Jrs squad you pay them something give them board and education (what they get at oakhill, etc). You then own the rights when they would have turned 19…
July 9th, 2008 at 12:38 pm
im a duke fan.
July 9th, 2008 at 12:38 pm
The glee of your tone is worrisome.
July 9th, 2008 at 12:39 pm
NWilson, you are a Carolina fan?
July 9th, 2008 at 12:40 pm
One upshot of all this may be that these kids won’t be surrounded by AAU/agent entourages and can focus on playing and earning playing time rather than having status and adoration simply handed to them…
July 9th, 2008 at 12:40 pm
who were the 5 most talked about players in college hoops this season?
beasley
love
mayo
in the ncaa tourney, rose
Rose was talked about all season long. This site never gave Memphis any respect last year. TBL loathes Coach Cal
July 9th, 2008 at 12:41 pm
It makes exports cheap, including made in USA ballers!
July 9th, 2008 at 12:41 pm
My glee is your assumption… I earn dollars as well so it does me and my family no good to see it sink.
I’m more so dumbfounded that somebody found SOMETHING political/economic to say about this story… it’s getting old.
July 9th, 2008 at 12:42 pm
when i fake my death in ten years to avoid my student loans, the government or my family will be left with a debt that isnt worth nearly as much as it was when i took the loans
July 9th, 2008 at 12:42 pm
NBA is more worried whole going to Europe thing then the NCAA. NCAA doesn’t mind as much because:
1) NCAA has always tried to market the teams/colleges then the players. NBA the opposite and lose marketability when these dudes play in Europe.
2) Not having as many one and done in the NCAA helps the stop some of hits about “student-athletes” that have plagued them from basketball.
July 9th, 2008 at 12:43 pm
August, they will have been there before they went to Europe, a different continent won’t stop that.
July 9th, 2008 at 12:46 pm
cbh: true, but hopefully that taste of self-reliance will help these young men realize that the creepier elements of that crowd are just hangers-on who aren’t out to help them… my more cynical side says you’re probably right though.
July 9th, 2008 at 12:46 pm
@NWilson: They did, but the rankings and seedings etc. would have been different with all the freshmen gone, and maybe they wouldn’t have been in the same bracket as a result.
July 9th, 2008 at 12:47 pm
TV exposure means nothing except ego gratification and the opportunity to be seen by family and friends. NBA scouts watch plenty of euro basketball and will already have this guy on the list. Won’t cost him a dime if he’s good enough.
July 9th, 2008 at 12:50 pm
Umm, who would’ve beat them in the championship game? Considering the national champ Kansas beat them in the elite 8…
July 9th, 2008 at 12:50 pm
TV exposure = endorsement dollars
July 9th, 2008 at 12:55 pm
Definitely a Carolina fan
July 9th, 2008 at 12:58 pm
A basketball minor league system would have to be somewhat profitable. I don’t think any of the current minor leagues for basketball are that popular. Contrast that with baseball and hockey, which have strong minor league traditions and leagues that are profitable.
I don’t know that basketball is popular enough that people would want to go watch a AA basketball game.
July 9th, 2008 at 1:02 pm
Seems like a level headed, humble young man. What could possibly go wrong?
July 9th, 2008 at 1:03 pm
What kind of endorsement $ are the one-and-done guys really going to pull in? I’ll grant you that Love, Beasley and Rose will benefit from a SLAM cover or two thanks to NCAA hype, but the only big deals will go to stars who prove themselves in the NBA.
July 9th, 2008 at 1:04 pm
Um I think Oden and Durant came away pretty well. Something like $30 mil each from Nike
July 9th, 2008 at 1:05 pm
We may not agree on baseball nwilson but we definitely agree on College bball, go Heels!
July 9th, 2008 at 1:05 pm
Endorsement contracts and actual NBA team contracts are two separate issues
July 9th, 2008 at 1:15 pm
I’m a displaced heels fan since the age of well, whatever age you can like a team. I’m a hansbrough backer and look to take a lot of heat come November.
July 9th, 2008 at 1:19 pm
im just hoping roy is classy enough to suspend lawson for the first five games for that dui
actually i hope he isnt classy enough so it gives more shit to talk about his toolbag ass
July 9th, 2008 at 1:23 pm
$30 million? That’s nothing … maybe if they paid them in euros … Point taken, Ruck. Oden and Durant obviously reaped the benefits of the NCAA starmaking system. Jennings misses a chance at that lottery, but making the NBA is such a longshot to begin with, I can’t blame him for taking the upfront money.
July 9th, 2008 at 1:24 pm
lets be honest though, because he is the first one to do this (and a highly touted recruit) its not like he is going to be flying under the radar. if he holds his own over there he could still be a lottery pick, and he will be getting enough exposure to probably get endorsements
July 9th, 2008 at 1:26 pm
@moleman, I was wondering what was going to come of that. I think he’ll probably get suspended for all two or three summer scrimmages. That’s all. Were taking both this year. Believe it. Cameron isn’t looking so tough this year.
July 9th, 2008 at 1:35 pm
i think theyll be better than last year. losing nelson sucks but elliot williams is a freak athlete and can shoot the lights out. king transfered so they dont really have a true SF. so they can either go paulus/smith, henderson/williams, singler, lance thomas, zoubek. or drop zoubek and play either of the power forwards they brought in this year. they got that six ten guy in may that decommited from stanford (actually think hes from patrick moodys high school lol) and theyve got some polish guy coming in
the weekness is obviously at center, but they have a wealth of guards and forwards that they can run some funky formations. plus dawkins is gone, never liked him on the bench
July 9th, 2008 at 2:06 pm
Bill, I agree that some fringe players should consider playing overseas if money is an issue, but if you’re a lottery pick you might be better served paying your dues one year at a big school. Obviously it doesn’t pan out all the time, like what happened to Bill Walker.
But I don’t think lottery guys like Eric Gordon, or Kevin Love, or Jerryd Bayless — who aren’t necessarily stars like Rose, Beasley, etc. - would be better off taking the early money.
July 9th, 2008 at 2:07 pm
I always thought that King was a joke. My best friend is a duke fan and usually 2-3 times a year it’s pure hatred between us then as soon as the game is over it’s all good again. Henderson is tough. paulus of course I would like to throw off the bridge.