Varsity Kansas - The Blog

By: J. Long
(Figured I’d put my name in bold so it won’t be confused as one of Joanna’s posts)

This will surely be something interesting to watch. Brandon Jennings, an Arizona basketball signee, Compton, CA native said that he is looking into the option of going overseas to play professionally if he can’t get into school. If he does, he would be the first high-level player to bypass college for the European market. Jennings is the top point guard prospect in this year’s recruiting class and the Parade Magazine Player of the Year.

Jennings who had a B average his senior year at Virgina basketball powerhouse Oak Hill Academy is awaiting the results from his third SAT test. He told ESPN that he scored too low on his first test because he didn’t really try, but passed the second time around. However, he was red-flagged because of the jump in test scores.

The second set of “re-do” test results should be back by July. Jennings has also indicated that he wants to go to Arizona first-and-foremost, but he’s just weighing his options.

This is intriguing to me because the responses to this are varied. There is no questioning the talent that the kid has. Plus he has swag and will be marketable. I don’t know too many people that can rock the old-school semi high-top box haircut that he has.

His body is the biggest question mark. At 6′2 he has the height, but his 170 pound frame won’t cut it in the league.

So why not go overseas to bulk up, improve his game, and in the process get this paper? Because if we’re going to be honest isn’t all of this about this paper?

Don’t get me wrong I’m all for college and definitely see the value in higher education, but one of the reasons you go to school is to find a career. If he already knows what he wants that career to be while not go straight into it? He’s already the number one pg prospect. What can he prove by dominating in the college game, that he hasn’t already proven? Its pretty much a given that he’s going to make himself eligible for the 2009 draft anyway.

I’m actually surprised that it’s taken this long for a high school player to think about this or at least publicly say he’s thinking about it. The NBA implemented the rule that players must be at least one year removed from high school in 2006. Since then countless players have been one and done including this year’s potential top pick B-Easy (Michael Beasley).

People don’t seem to have a problem with kids getting drafted out of high school in baseball, why in basketball is it such a problem ? I have no clue. But that’s a totally different issue.

So what do you think? Will this be a growing trend? Will this be the next free spirited choice that gets banned?

This entry was posted on Tuesday, June 24th, 2008 at 12:32 p.m. and is filed under Basketball, The Blog. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.