UK Sports Info

More and more you see that players are being discussed and considering the option of going to Europe to play ball instead of college. Brandon Jennings is probably the most notable to date that decided to go to Europe over college. Going into the 2008 basketball season most people believed Brandon Jennings to be the best player out there and a definite lottery pick in the 2009 draft. As the draft nears we are seeing his stock dropping. As I have said before the mock drafts are not 100%, but it is very clear that his status has dropped.

So, what does this mean? Everyone that thought he was the best player around and probably the best player that was going to be in the 2009 draft. Is there a big difference between the development of player who plays one year overseas as to a player who players in college for a year or two? Does it say anything about the player that he chooses to skip college for probably an easier road of going overseas? I am a firm believer that a kid who chooses to go overseas is opting to skip college for a reason. Does school offer a more strict schedule with more responsibilities than playing overseas? I would argue that it does. While saying that, I have to say that college basketball players have it pretty easy. You go to class, you eat, you practice, people worship you(at least at UK), you play games and girls throw themselves at you. To me that does not sound hard, but it does take some discipline, hard work and dedication to attend college.

So, is overseas the easy road? Does it impact your position in the draft? Those are the big questions players should be asking themselves before deciding to play overseas.