One Upping Brandon Jennings: Junior Going to Europe

[kobimel]

SAN DIEGO — Jeremy Tyler, a 6-foot-11 high school junior whom some consider the best American big man since Greg Oden, says he will be taking a new path to the N.B.A. He has left San Diego High School and said this week that he would skip his senior year to play professionally in Europe.
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Tyler, 17, would become the first United States-born player to leave high school early to play professionally overseas. He is expected to return in two years, when he is projected to be a top pick, if not the No. 1 pick, in the 2011 N.B.A. draft.

Tyler, who had orally committed to play for Rick Pitino at Louisville, has yet to sign with an agent or a professional team. His likely destination is Spain, though teams from other European leagues have shown interest. A spokesman for Louisville said the university could not comment about Tyler.

“Nowadays people look to college for more off-the-court stuff versus being in the gym and getting better,” Tyler said. “If you’re really focused on getting better, you go play pro somewhere. Pro guys will get you way better than playing against college guys.”

Interesting. If he thinks he's getting superstar attention there, he's in for a big surprise.

[GMJ]

He's going to get a HUGE surprise. E:60 did an interview with Jennings (might have been OTL) who explained the steep learning curve. A junior in highschool is ready to learn the game, not play professionally. Like Rubio, eventually he'll be at an advantage by having that many years of pro experience, but I'd imagine he'd have to stay over there for at least a year before he can make some sort of an impact.

Also, link?

[kobimel]

Oh damn, my bad:

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/23/sport ... ml?_r=1&hp

He's definitely not ready for big minutes on a good Euro team. No junior is, unless he's incredibly special. I wouldn't be surprised if he's relegated to the end of the bench and starts complaining to the press by mid-season, unless he's coming prepared for a very tough time.

[Netted]

I read a great article on this and it seems he is just bored and not developing with the very weak high school competition he is playing against. Seems like he's made the decision so he can try to get better, not get fortune and fame.

http://sports.yahoo.com/top/news;_ylt=A ... &type=lgns

[kdub]

Interesting, if this keeps up we might have kids skipping high school altogether and starting at 14 like Rubio.

[kobimel]

SAN DIEGO (AP) -- Jeremy Tyler's jump from high school to an overseas professional basketball league is progressing to the point that his agent is negotiating with a team in Haifa, Israel.

The 6-foot-11, 260-pound Tyler announced in late April that he was skipping his senior season at San Diego High to play overseas. He had hoped to be able to make a decision by Friday, his 18th birthday.

"We're pretty close," said Sonny Vaccaro, the former shoe company executive who is advising Tyler and his family. "There's no hurry. They don't start playing until next December. He's in good shape. We know we have something."

Tyler would become the first American-born player to leave high school early to play professionally overseas. When he's eligible for the NBA draft in 2011, some see him as a potential No. 1 pick overall.

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2009/b ... index.html

Pretty cool, that means I would be able to see him a couple of times live next season.

[DSos]

"Tyler signs with Maccabi Haifa "

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2009/h ... index.html

I wonder how this will work out.. Let's see how Brandon Jennings does in the NBA to see if this is really the correct route to take.

[canofan42]

I personally think this is getting ridiculous. I'm entering my junior year of high school, and I can't imagine myself just screwing everything I've done in school to go play basketball. Now, I'm not projected to be the next Greg Oden, but I think this could become a problem if high school kids being to go to Europe to play ball instead of staying in school and going to college.

[kobimel]

He's going to finish his senior year in Israel. Might even play for the high school team in addition to his pro obligations. Which means I might play against him this season...