Detroit Pistons point guard Brandon Jennings was set to play for the University of Arizona, instead he went to go play professional basketball with the Italian club Lottomatica Roma.
The following tweet from Alex Bateson and retweet by Brandon Jennings got me wondering about Brandon’s story, why didn’t he end up going to the University of Arizona? I began investigating.
Brandon Jennings is about to get a new Small Forward to pass to who is a former Arizona Wildcat, Stanley Johnson. Stanley just signed his contract, a 4-year rookie scale contract.
#signed @DetroitPistons pic.twitter.com/qmyhR4EKm8
— 7even (@iAmSJ) July 22, 2015
#NBA #Pistons
— OwnersBox NBA (@OwnersBoxNBA) July 23, 2015
2015 8th overall pick, Stanley Johnson, has signed his 4-year rookie scale contract with the Detroit Pistons.
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Johnson, drafted by the Pistons in the 2015 NBA Draft at the No. 8 spot, recently wrapped up his summer league NBA play in Orlando and averaged a team-high 16.2 points, 6.8 rebounds, 2.0 assists, 1.8 steals and 1.0 blocks while shooting 57.7% from the field.
Jennings graduated high school from Oak Hill Academy in 2008 two years after the implementation of the prep-to-pro NBA policy in 2006. Brandon was rated as the nation’s No. 1 high school basketball prospect by Scout.com, ESPNU 150, and the No. 4 prospect by Rivals.com. He set the school record for points in a season and averaged 32.7 points, 7.4 assists, and 5.1 rebounds per game.
The prep-to-pro policy is explained on Wikipedia:
"The NBA high school draftees are players who have been drafted to the National Basketball Association (NBA) straight out of high school without playing basketball at the collegiate level. The process of jumping directly from high school to the professional level is also known as going prep-to-pro. Since 2006, the practice of drafting high school players has been prohibited by the new collective bargaining agreement, which requires that players who entered the draft be 19 years of age and at least one year removed from high school.[1] Contrary to popular belief, the player does not have to play at least a year in college basketball, as the player can choose to instead play in another professional league (especially overseas) or simply take the year off."
Jan 21, 2015; Auburn Hills, MI, USA; Detroit Pistons guard Brandon Jennings (7) dribbles the ball in the third quarter against the Orlando Magic at The Palace of Auburn Hills. The Pistons won 128-118. Mandatory Credit: Rick Osentoski-USA TODAY Sports
Jennings originally decided to attend USC in August 2006, but changed his mind and committed to Arizona on April 24, 2007. The reason he cited for the change of heart was that he felt Arizona had quality academic faculty plus he wanted to play with Jerryd Bayless who ironically was a one-and-done and entered the 2008 NBA draft with Jennings who had spent the last year in Italy.
Brandon was the first player to skip college after the prep-to-pro policy was implemented, so it was a huge deal and a big loss for Kevin O’Neills Arizona Wildcats who ended up with a 19–15 (8–10 Pac-10) record. Less than stellar. One can only imagine what the 2007/8 season record could have been if Jennings had carried through with his committment.
Instead of attending college for a year earning a scholarship worth roughly $20,000 at the time, he signed a contract with the Italian team for $1.65 million net income guaranteed. Under Armour gave Jennings a $2 million contract to showcase their products in the Euroleague in addition to his basketball contract. So he made about $4 million dollars. He still reps Under Armour today.
Why did he go with Under Armour?
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Head Coach Lute Olson had announced he was taking a leave of absence later in November that year. Coach O’Neill was an assistant under Hall of Fame Head Coach Lute Olson during Arizona’s rise to national prominence in the 1980s. He was appointed interim coach for Olson for the 2007/8 season.
Selected tenth overall by the Milwaukee Bucks in the 2009 NBA draft, Jennings played in Milwaukee for four seasons, then moved to his current team the Detroit Pistons for the last two seasons.
Last season and earlier this year in January, Brandon was dealt a serious blow when he was ruled out for the rest of the season requiring surgery due to a ruptured left Achilles tendon. At that point in the season he had averaged 15.4 points, 6.6 assists and 1.1 steals in 41 games.
Jennings has two sons, Legend Truth and Kingston Jennings. Great names honestly.
Brandon will be ready to play in October:
@BrandonJennings Peace...are you going to be ready for the season Bro? #DetroitBasketball
— Lima Whiskey 🔱⚓📐 (@SquareImperial) July 21, 2015
If you haven’t been able to tell, he is very open and answers questions on his Twitter account @BrandonJennings, refreshing and fun.
Beardown Brandon, we wish you would have attended and played for the University of Arizona if only for a year, but the fact that you turned down USC for Arizona, that’s priceless and hopefully fans can now connect with you on Twitter.
Next: Indiana Wildcats: Jordan Hill, Solomon Hill and Chase Budinger