High School G Jennings To Forgo College, Play In Europe For Year

Jennings Opting To Play In Europe Before Likely Entering '09 NBA Draft

Stephenson Still Planning On Going College Route Before Entering NBA

REAX: ESPN.com's Doug Gottlieb wrote Jennings is "not ready for the culture shock of playing overseas, for the challenge of playing grown men as opposed to over-matched high schoolers, for the huge drop in the NBA draft stock." While Jennings can "cry the NCAA a river and complain that the NBA and [the NBPA] have treated him unfairly, there is no cheating the FIBA litmus test that awaits." But Jennings "might now become the poster boy for other high school players who want to avoid college basketball and play for pay at an earlier age" (ESPN.com, 7/3). FOXSPORTS.com's Jason Whitlock notes, "In all likelihood, Brandon Jennings won't be the last big-time basketball recruit from the 2009 [draft] class to choose overseas money rather than the stereotypical, under-the-table college package." Whitlock: "A 19-year-old from Europe can join the NBA without anyone objecting. But a teenager from the states who hasn't spent a year masquerading as a college student and justifying CBS's billion-dollar NCAA basketball package is forbidden from joining the NBA. ... Maybe Brandon Jennings will go down in history as the young man who forced the NCAA to honestly deal with the hypocrisy, stupidity and immorality of its rules" (FOXSPORTS.com, 7/9). SPORTINGNEWS.com's Dan Shanoff writes of Jennings' decision, "Everyone has ulterior motives in this; at least his are transparent: His goal is to play professionally." Shanoff: "I hope this sets a new trend, next year and beyond: I hope that the other half-dozen or so high school seniors with obvious NBA futures opt out of the nuisance of the college basketball system to use their 'one-and-done' year to focus on training for their NBA careers. I hope that the NBA changes its policy. ... In this game of 1-on-2, Brandon Jennings wins" (SPORTINGNEWS.com, 7/9).

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