The University of Arizona looked to be a preseason top 10 team next season with Chase Budinger returning to school and top prep point guard Brandon Jennings arriving in Tucson. However, Jennings has decided to play in Europe for a year instead of attend college.
Wildcats coach Lute Olson blames the “one-and-done” rule instituted by the NBA in 2006, saying it needs to be retooled. Jennings, 18, under NBA rules must be 19 and a year removed from high school to be eligible for the NBA draft.
“Kids should be able to come out of high school," Olson said. "They need to institute something like what baseball has. Once someone enters school, they have to stay a minimum of either two of three years.
"We as coaches warned the NCAA about this when it was first put in place," he added. "It's going to turn into a bigger mess."
Olson also said his outlook with regards to recruiting some of the elite players will change in the wake of the Jennings situation.
"We're going to change our position and if we think someone we're recruiting has that kind of thought about going to Europe, we're going to stop trying to recruit those type of guys."
Jennings had not passed his first two attempts at a standardized test qualifying score but decided not to even wait for his third test result, which are due later this week.
"Over the course of the last two months I have consulted a number of people in basketball before coming to this decision," Jennings said in a statement released through his attorney. "I would like to thank the University of Arizona for their interest and support through this process." ...Jennings expects to earn "certainly, in the hundreds of thousands of dollars," in both a playing contract and shoe and other endorsement deals, his attorney said.
This could truly be a landmark decision by an American prep recruit. If Jennings lands a contract in the hundreds of thousands, which is doubted by some European basketball experts, plays well and is a high NBA draft pick, this could be the wave of the future for top incoming college freshmen. And a killer to college basketball.
Once a player shows that Europe is viable, more will follow, said Sonny Vaccaro, a former marketing executive with Nike Inc, Adidas AG and Reebok. "Once one does it, we will have a migration of young people."
Meanwhile, without Jennings, the Wildcats of 2008-09 have Nic Wise, Budinger and forward Jordan Hill and a lot of questions after them. Could be another mediocre season in Tucson.
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