Brandon Jennings is headed to Europe.
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.”
