**For more Knicks, check out point guard Chris Duhon with Tommy Dee tonight on TKB Radio.

GREENBURGH, N.Y. – OK, now I officially have no idea where Lance Stephenson is going to college.

Just a week after I said I thought Maryland was the leader for his services, the Baltimore Sun is quoting two unnamed sources as saying the Terps are no longer recruiting the 6-foot-5 Stephenson.

Last week Lance said he was considering Arizona, Florida, Maryland and Memphis and would decide within “three weeks.”

If Maryland and Florida are both out, does he end up at Arizona or Memphis? Or does he go somewhere else, like a Florida International?

At various times, I have thought St. John’s, Kansas and Maryland would land Lance, the all-time leading scorer in New York State history and a McDonald’s All-American. Now all three schools appear to be out.

I still don’t believe any college commitment can happen until after Stephenson’s sexual assault case is resolved. It was adjourned until June 29.

Could Europe be an option?

The Stephensons have repeatedly said it is not, but Brandon Jennings said he thought Europe would be a good move for Lance.

“Yes, I really do,” said Jennings, who spent last season in Italy and on Monday worked out for the Knicks in preparation for the upcoming NBA Draft. “I think it will humble him a lot. I think he’ll need that, just make him mature on and off the court, start doing things for himself, taking care of his responsibilities.”

Yet Jennings admitted he hadn’t spoken directly to Stephenson.

“No, the only person I’ve talked to is Jeremy Tyler,” Jennings said, referring to the 6-10 San Diego High School junior who will skip his senior year of high school to play in Europe. “He’s real excited and I can’t wait for the kid to go over there.”

“I think that’s a really good idea,” Jennings added of Tyler. “It’s more of a big man’s game over there. The bigs get to stay in the key. The bigs get to do a lot, so I think he’ll do better than I did. I don’t think he should go to a team that’s really, really good. He should go to a team that’s so-so OK so can get some playing time and get used to playing.”

Jennings also said anyone who goes to Europe should be accompanied by his parents. Brandon’s mother and younger brother spent the year in Italy with him.

“I think any kid [who] goes over there, they should have their parents or somebody go over there with them,” he said. “I wouldn’t do it by yourself for your first year.”

Bryant Gumbel:  “Do you view this as purgatory?”  A place you got to go to because you weren’t’ allowed into heaven, which is the NBA?”

Brandon Jennings: “I guess.”

Gumbel:  “Could be worse.”

Jennings:   “It could be.  I could be in college.  I could be in class right now.”

Jennings, now 19, has a three-year contract with Lottomatica Virtus Roma that allows him to opt out after this season when he will be eligible for the NBA draft. Jennings deals calls for the team to pay for a three-bedroom condo on the outskirts of Rome and for his younger brother, Terrence, to go to the city’s best prep schools.  Since Brandon does not have his driver’s license yet, his mom, Alice Knox, shuttles him to and from practice twice a day.

Jennings is a spot-starter, averaging less than ten points a game.  The trailblazing experience was organized for Jennings by Sonny Vaccaro, who tells HBO:  “I’ve talked to parents of children who are in ninth grade and tenth grade, and some kids who are gonna be seniors this year that are looking at it as an option.  I don’t know if anyone else will do it.  But they know they have an option.  And that’s a good thing.”

Gumbel: “Are you convinced you made the right decision?”

Jennings: “Yes.  No doubt.  It’s the best decision I’ve made so far.”

(Photo courtesy New York Times)

Lance Stephenson

“I don’t think it’s a good decision to go to Europe,” Stephenson told the MSG Network in a interview broadcast at halftime of St. Benedict’s 89-53 victory over Lincoln Saturday at the Prudential Center. “I just want to go to college and experience new things.”

The 6-foot-5 Stephenson, ranked No. 1 in the Class of 2009 by the Hoop Scoop and No. 9 by Rivals, lists St. John’s, Kansas, Memphis and USC as his favorites and has repeatedly told me and other reporters he likes the idea of bringing St. John’s back.

“I think about that a lot,” he told MSG. “I was thinking about that with my family, to bring St. John’s back, so I think that would be a good look.”

Stephenson was in attendance last week at Madison Square Garden when UConn downed St. John’s. Stephenson hung out outside the Johnnies locker room and said he could imagine himself playing under the lights of the Garden, where his team has won three straight PSAL city crowns. Red Storm head coach Norm Roberts has made it a point to attend several Lincoln games.

Kansas coach Bill Self also attended the Lincoln-Duncanville (Texas) game broadcast last month on ESPN. USC coach Tim Floyd watched Stephenson several times last summer.

As for Memphis, while Lance continues to mention the Tigers, it doesn’t appear that John Calipari is actively recruiting Stephenson. The Tigers already have a senior wing committed in 6-6 Xavier Henry, whose team lost to St. Anthony last Monday in Springfield, Mass.

As for Europe, Stephenson told me last summer that he would consider following Brandon Jennings to Europe, but Jennings is now  struggling a bit for Lottomatica Virtus Roma in Italy despite earning $1.2 million a year in salary and endorsements.

“I’ve gotten paid on time once this year,” Jennings told The New York Times in an email “They treat me like I’m a little kid. They don’t see me as a man. If you get on a good team, you might not play a lot. Some nights you’ll play a lot; some nights you won’t play at all. That’s just how it is.”

Some experts speculated that Jennings’ decision to play in Europe instead of going to college would spur others, like Stephenson, Henry, DeMarcus Cousins, Renardo Sidney and Derrick Favors to follow suit. But all of those players have either committed to colleges or said they will.

“I don’t see too many kids doing it,” Jennings said of going to Europe. “It’s tough man, I’ll tell you that. It can break you.”

As for Lance, his team has now lost four of five but remains focused on winning a fourth straight PSAL city championship at the Garden. He will announce his college plans after the season.

“I’m just worrying about the season right now,” Stephenson said.

]]> http://www.zagsblog.com/2009/01/25/lance-says-europe-is-not-an-option/feed/ 0 http://www.zagsblog.com/2008/11/11/stephenson-cheek-to-sign-late/ http://www.zagsblog.com/2008/11/11/stephenson-cheek-to-sign-late/#comments Tue, 11 Nov 2008 17:17:48 +0000 Adam Zagoria http://www.zagsblog.com/?p=6688

Lance Stephenson and Dominic Cheek will still be on the board after the NCAA early signing period begins Wednesday.

Stephenson, the 6-foot-5 guard known as “Born Ready” from Lincoln High School in Brooklyn, and Cheek, a 6-5 wing from St. Anthony in Jersey City, are among an elite group of high school basketball players who have chosen to wait until the spring to pick a college.

Read the full story here.

And hit play above for the latest installment of our interview with recruiting expert Tom Konchalski, in which he says Lance Stephenson is being “under-recruited” and also discusses Brandon Jennings’ move to Europe and its implications for other prep players.

Speaking of Jennings, Chris Broussard of ESPN The Mag went to Italy and has this video interview with the former Oak Hill star. Jennings’ advice to those who might follow him to Europe: “Don’t come over here for the money.” And his plans for what’s next? “The NBA, that’s what’s next.”

The first story asks whether Jennings, an elite point guard who opted to play professionally in Europe instead of going to Arizona when his academic status was called into question, is a trailblazer.

The question of how many players will follow Jennings’s path to the N.B.A. lingers at all levels. Sonny Vaccaro, the former sneaker company executive who orchestrated Jennings’s move, said that the families of 12 elite high school players had contacted him. They are intrigued by the notion of going to Europe.

“I think we’re going to have a revolution, and Brandon Jennings, a kid from Compton, is going to start it,” Vaccaro said in a telephone interview.

In another story about Jennings’ family keeping an eye on him, Jennings says that three high school players in the class of 2009 — the California big men Renardo Sidney and Jordan Hamilton and Lance Stephenson of Brooklyn — were talented enough to play professionally in Europe.

“I would ask them this: What do you want to get out of it?” Jennings said. “If they’re coming over here for the money, don’t do it. If they want to learn and get better, they should think about it. If you have a bad attitude, it’s not going to be good.”

Even though both Stephenson and his father, Lance Sr., said they are intrigued by Jennings’ move overseas, Hassani Stewart, Stephenson’s AAU coach with Raising Champions, said Lance’s primary objective is to attend college. He is currently planning visits to Kansas, Memphis, UCLA and USC.

“He really wants to go to college,” Stewart said. “He’s still a kid. He’s a ballplayer and he wants to perform. He doesn’t want any special treatment.”

(Photo courtesy New York Times)

After Jennings, 18, his family and his advisors had dinner with grassroots sneaker czar Sonny Vaccaro Monday night, Jennings returned to his hotel suite with Vaccaro and Dejan Bodiroga, the GM of the Virtus Roma team in Rome. Together they spoke on the phone with Virtus Roma head coach Jasmin Repesa, who was in Greece. After Vaccaro left at about 11 p.m., Jennings’ Los Angeles-based attorney, Jeff Valle, remained to negotiate with the Italians.

When the deal was finally struck at about 12:30 Tuesday morning, Jennings, a 6-foot-2 guard from Lakewood, Calif., who spent the last two years at Oak Hill Academy in Mouth of Wilson, Va., had a guaranteed three-year multimillion dollar deal with options allowing him to escape after each year. Jennings will reportedly make approximately $600,000 not including endorsements his first year.

“It’s a brave new world,” Vaccaro, declining to give specific terms, said Thursday in a phone interview. “(The contract) is very good and each year is much more (money). Compared to the American dollar, it’s very substantial. It’s a very good contract for someone untested in these waters, for a European team to step out like this for an 18-year-old with no European experience. The only Americans they get are guys who played in the league (NBA) or played college basketball, so this is a whole new world for them.”

Jennings will live in Rome with his mother, Alice Knox, and his younger brother, Terrance, who will enroll in an English-speaking school and play for a junior club team in Rome.

Said Bodiroga in a statement: “I am really happy for his arrival in Rome. Brandon is one of the greatest American talents and he is considered as one of the top players for the next NBA Draft. It’s a big deal for us to have a player with such qualities.”

Valle said that Jennings’ family has retained a local prominent Italian attorney, Giovanni Imbergamo, to serve as legal counsel in Rome and work directly with the team on all matters.

“I’m ready to go,” said Jennings, who opted to skip his freshman season at Arizona in the wake of questions regarding his standardized test score. “I can’t believe this happened so fast. Sonny said that all of the European teams were in Las Vegas for the NBA Summer League so everyone he wanted to see was there.”

Vaccaro said seven clubs in five countries — Greece, Israel, Italy, Spain and Russia — expressed interest in Jennings after watching him work out last week at the Tarkanian Center in Las Vegas.

“He basically auditioned,” Vaccaro said. “That was the only time they saw him other than films. Spain wanted us to wait until July 23. Israel wanted to wait until the coach flew over. Everybody wanted him, but no one was prepared to put a contract on.

“Brandon wanted to get it done with and he had a leaning toward Rome before it even started because it’s an international city and there’s a lot of English-speaking people there.”

Virtus Roma reached the final 16 of the EuroLeague Championships last year when former Penn guard Ibby Jaaber and former Villanova guard Allan Ray were on the roster. On Wednesday Roma lost point guard Roko Ukic to the Toronto Raptors, creating an opening.

Now that the deal has been struck, what will Brandon’s role on the team be?

“He’ll play an awful lot,” Vaccaro said. “That was one of the prerequisites. They want him. They didn’t sign him not to play him.”

What happens to Virtus Roma if Jennings leaves for the NBA after one year?

“Well, they’ll get another (point guard),” Vaccaro said. “That’s not uncommon in all of Europe. Every European team has a buyout when they sign someone for substantial money, meaning if Brandon is drafted and he goes to the NBA next year, then the team that drafts him will pay a buyout fee to the club. The money balances out. The Knicks paid a buyout to get Danilo Gallinari.”

Will every NBA team scout Jennings next year?

“Every NBA team now has European scouts,” Vaccaro said. “He’ll be scouted more here than he would’ve been at Arizona.”

What does this all mean for the NBA and its 19-year-old age limit?

“What we’re doing is basically what (NBA Commissioner) David (Stern) said we could do,” Vaccaro said. “David said that he’s not telling the kids that they have to go to college. They could play basketball in the NBDL or in Europe. And Brandon’s going to play in Europe.

 ”This is not a direct affront to the NBA at all. It’s what is in the rules today as we know them. Brandon Jennings just had no desire to go through all the other stuff. He just wanted to be a professional and he did it.”

Vaccaro insisted that Jennings did qualify for Arizona, but chose not to attend.

“He passed, they flagged it (his test scores),” Vaccaro said. “He just said he was going to (go to Europe). He basically said he wants to go and learn more.”

Now that Jennings has made this decision, will others follow? Will Lance Stephenson, Derrick Caracter or Renardo Sidney follow suit?

Stephenson, a 6-5 guard who has led Brooklyn’s Lincoln High School to three straight PSAL championships, said he would wait and see how the Jennings Saga turns out before making a decision about his own future.

“I’m looking at Brandon right now, see how he’s doing. If he goes there [to Europe] then I’ll see how it is,” Stephenson said recently. “If I do it, then I’ll do it, but right now I’m thinking about college.”

The 6-10 Sidney, also considered one of the elite players in the Class of 2009 and a friend of Stephenson, might also consider going overseas, although he has a long list of top American colleges courting him.

“Brandon’s decision will definitely have an effect on the younger kids,” Sidney’s father, Renardo Sidney Sr., told FoxSports.com. “For us, it’s definitely an option.”

Vaccaro wouldn’t speculate on who might follow Jennings, but believes someone will.

“Do I think somebody will do it in the future?” Vaccaro asked. “Absolutely. But I think what Brandon did was show the way.Young people’s parents have already called me.”

Brandon Jennings is pulling a Kobe. A year after playing for Oak Hill Academy on ESPN, he’s headed to Italy.

Jennings, the prep star who announced he would skip Arizona in order to play overseas, signed a three-year, multimillion-dollar contract with the Rome-based Pallacanestro Virtus Roma team. The deal has a buyout clause that will allow him to leave the team and enter the NBA draft when eligible next year, according to the Los Angeles Times. The deal was negotiated by former grassroots sneaker czar Sonny Vaccaro.

Virtus Roma General Manager Dejan Bodiroga “had a comprehensive plan for Brandon that included specific training and education, tutoring programs . . . as well as media training,” Jennings’ Los Angeles attorney, Jeffrey Valle, said in a prepared statement.

Bodiroga also arranged for Jennings’ 13-year-old brother, Terrance, to enroll in an English-speaking school and land a spot on a junior club team in Rome, Vaccaro said.

This is a fascinating scenario, and one which is being followed with rapt attention by the entire basketball world. These are some of the key questions soon to be answered….

1. Will Jennings be a trendsetter? If it “works out” for him, are we likely to see a Lance Stephenson or a Renardo Sidney or a Derrick Caracter follow suit?

2. What does “work out” even mean? Will Jennings be back and ready to go for the 2009 NBA Draft? What if he and his family become enamored with Italian food, culture and beaches (who wouldn’t?) and decide to stay?

3. What’s the story with the Virtus Roma team ? What do they get out of having Jennings for just one year? Who takes over the point for them next season if Jennings leaves?

4. What NBA teams have relationships with this Italian team, and who’s going to be over scouting Jennings this upcoming season. Will every NBA send someone to watch him, or just a handful?

5. Where does Arizona go now? The Wildcats are scrambling for a point guard during the July recruiting period, looking everywhere….even including overseas!

Which is just where Brandon Jennings will be balling…..

PHILADELPHIA – Brandon Jennings

**Despite 19 points and 13 boards from Renardo Sidney, Pump Omni beat Answer XII, 70-66, in the Championship Game. Raymond Taylor led Pump Omni with 15 points, Maurice Creek added 12 and Oscar Griffin 11.

Nobody but Sidney reached double-figures for the losers, but Fuquan Edwin and Erik Swoope each had 8. Sidney told me his Top 6 include Texas, Texas A&M, Arizona State, USC, UCLA and Memphis.

“(I’m going to decide) after my season, after my senior season,” the 6-9 Sidney said.

**Pump Omni also featured 6-5 Paterson Catholic junior Fuquan Edwin, who holds offers from Rutgers, Seton Hall and Xavier and is a star on the rise. He was a monster as a frosh at PC, grabbing double-digit rebounds and scoring “like we breath,” to quote Tom Konchalski. Then he had a bit of a letdown as a sophomore. Look for a feature from me next week on Edwin, who is now playing in the Underclassmen All-Star Game.

**Super sophomore La’Quinton Ross of Jackson, Miss. has an extended college list that includes USC, Mississippi State, Baylor, Ole Miss, Maryland, Alabama, Memphis, Syracuse, Florida and Texas.

**Jayvaughn Pinkston, a 6-5 combo forward from Bishop Loughlin, scored a team-high 12 points to lead Finish to a 75-66 victory in the Underclassmen All-Star Game, but somehow his teammate Ashton Pankey was name Co-MVP. Go figure. Pinkston said he likes Florida, USC, Memphis and Louisville.

“I want to go away for school,” he said. That may rule out the locals, St. John’s, Seton Hall and Rutgers. 

**Wayne Blackshear of Chicago tallied a game-high 16 points for the losers and LeBryan Nash added 10, including a couple of rim-rattling one- and two-handed dunks. New Jersey players Sterling Gibbs and Myck Kabongo each scored 3 points.

**The Philly Inquirer has a feature today on Aaric Murray, a 6-9, 256-pound big from Philly’s Glen Mills who is being recruited by a number of schools and listed Marquette, West Virginia and St. Joe’s as those recruiting him the hardest. Word is he could end up at West Virginia.

**Onetime Indiana guard Jordan Crawford has transferred to Xavier, an interesting move since Xavier already has a bunch of guards, including IU transfer Terrell Holloway, and is hard after Omari Lawrence (out for the summer with a separated shoulder) and Durand Scott. Xavier had no scholarships available so they convinced Andrew Taylor to give his up (presumably) paying his own way, and then go back on ship next season.  Crawford, meanwhile, will try to get a waiver and not sit a year, arguing that he got inadvertently caught up in the IU recruiting scandal under Kelvin Sampson.

Brandon Jennings

The National Prep Player of the Year will not go to Arizona, but instead will make an unprecedented move to play professionally in Europe.

“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, Jeff Valle. “I would like to thank the University of Arizona for their interest and support through this process.”

Arizona coach Lute Olson, currently in Philadelphia at the Reebok All-American Camp, seemed at a loss when I spoke to him briefly on Monday.

“We’re disappointed in terms of Brandon’s decision, but we want to wish him the best of luck,” Olson said in a statement. “We hope that things turn out well for him in the future.”

The question now is whether other young players, such as Lance Stephenson and Renardo Sidney, might follow Jennings’ path and play overseas.

“I’m looking at Brandon right now, see how he’s doing. If he goes there [to Europe] then I’ll see how it is,” Stephenson, a rising senior and one of the top players in the Class of 2009, said at the Steve Nash Nike Skills Academy. “If I do it, then I’ll do it, but right now I’m thinking about college.”

Brandon Jennings

The 6-foot Jennings has said he may head to Europe instead of college even if he secures a qualifying test score — assuming he can find the right situation.

The National Player of the Year, Jennings has taken the SAT three times, according to the Tucson Citizen. He passed on the second attempt, but was red-flagged after the second one because of the jump in scores from the first to the second test.

Collegeboard.com says that “a small percentage of scores are not yet available” and to check back July 11.

“It creates a problem for us because of setting up schedules,” Arizona coach Lute Olson told Jeff Goodman of FoxSports.com. “It’s really unfair to Brandon.

He added: “We’ll talk once we find out what happens with his test score. We’re not going to worry about it until then.”

Read my earlier story on Jennings’ potential move to Europe and how it might impact younger stars like New York’s Lance Stephenson and Fairfax (Cal.) standout Renardo Sidney.