College Hoops Video

What an interesting road this young man has traveled to get to the point of having the possibility of being selected in the first round of the upcoming 2009 NBA Draft. A highly touted high school senior, Jennings was listed as the #1 recruit in 2007-2008 by both Scouts.com and ESPN.com. What happened? Well, that my friends is the unique story of Brandon Jennings.

Brandon Jennings’ Collegiate Career

To sum it up in one sentence, Brandon Jennings didn’t have a collegiate career. And this is where the story gets a bit more interesting. As a high school senior playing for Oak Hill Academy in Virginia, Jennings finished the season with nothing short of outstanding statistics and ended up as the 2008 Naismith High School Basketball Player Of The Year. A quick run down of what he accomplished. He scored over 32 points per game, dished out over 7 assists per game, averaged more than 5 rebounds a game and to top it off almost 4 steals per game. This had many colleges beating a path to the young mans door and rightly so. He initially committed to USC during his junior season but changed his mind in 2007 and expressed that he would instead join the Arizona Wildcats. Moving forward to June 2008, Jennings had difficulty passing the entrance exam. To be kind, he tanked it, even after trying it multiple times. Since he was not yet 19 years old, Jennings couldn’t make himself eligible for the 2008 NBA Draft. At this point, he declared that he would be the first American player to forgo college and play in Europe. In July of 2008, Jennings signed a $1.65 million dollar contract to play for Lottomatica Roma of The Italian A League. Needless to say, certainly not chump change. Added to that was a contract from Under Armour for $2 million to showcase the company’s products in the Euroleague. Not a bad deal right? But Jennings still wants to play in the NBA and this is the year where most feel he will get his wish.

Brandon Jennings 2009 NBA Draft Prospects

With almost a season of polish and yes, some frustration under his belt, Brandon Jennings will most like be a first round selection in the upcoming 2009 NBA Draft. His upside potential to many is off the scale. Showing that he could play point guard in a fairly tough Euroleague has Jennings slated to be a low first round pick. To many, Jennings might be that so called sleeper pick that will have everybody saying “Who?” when the day is over. At 6ft 1in. tall, Jennings has what many feel is world class speed. And in this day and age when the speed is at a premium in the NBA, Jennings has it bucketloads. His athleticism, quickness, and knowledge of the game will pose many problems for his future opponents. Jennings is a true point guard that has outstanding ball handling skills and passing abilities. Is he a finished product? No, not yet, but look for this young man to make a mark in the NBA and do it rather quickly. 

Refs:

http://www.draftexpress.com/profile/Brandon-Jennings-1114/

http://basketballrecruiting.rivals.com/viewprospect.asp?Sport=2&pr_key=39071

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/24/sports/basketball/24recruit.html

Arizona Wildcats

Arizona finished the 2008-09 basketball season at 21-14, 9-9 in the PAC-10 and squeaked by to get into the 2009 NCAA tournament. New head coach, Sean Miller, has been able to salvage a decent 2009 recruiting class with getting small forward prospect, Solomon Hill to re-commit to Arizona. With Nic Wise returning for the 2009-10 season, Hill and Wise with give the Wildcats a hard-to-match 1-2 combo in the starting lineup next season. Coach Miller was also able to land big man, Kyryl Natyazhko and forward Kevin Parrom to round out his 2009 NCAA recruiting class for next season to try and help the Wildcats get into the NCAA tournament a bit easier than last seasons last minute bid!

2009 Arizona Wildcat Recruits

#1 – 2009 Arizona Wildcat Recruit – SF – Solomon Hill
Ht: 6’6″
Wt: 195lbs
Rank: 27

Solomon Hill is the cornerstone of the 2009 Arizona Wildcat recruiting class. He’s able to drive to the basket and beat defenders off of the dribble. Hill is considered more of a Point Forward than a Small Forward by most that have seen him play. He’s also very unselfish with the ball which combined with his already high basketball IQ will likely make Hill a starter in the 2009-10 NCAA season.

#2 – 2009 Arizona Wildcat Recruit -  C – Kyryl Natyazhko
Ht: 6’10″
Wt: 250lbs
Rank: 81

Kyryl Natyazhko is a Ukraine national who has been playing basketball in the United States for about a year. He’s very versatile for his size and brings a good mid-range jumper to the Wildcats to complement his excellent post play. His main area for improvement is on the defensive end where his shot blocking capability needs work.

#3 – 2009 Arizona Wildcat Recruit – SF – Kevin Parrom
Ht: 6’6″
Wt: 200lbs
Rank: 122

Kevin Parrom has great athleticism and is able to get to the rim quickly. He’s show the ability to be able to take hits and still score. His ball handling needs some work and his mid-range jumper is considered a bit weak at this point o fhis career. Defensiviely, Parrom has demonstrated an excellent ability to get into passing lanes and create steals.