(N)one and done

There's a compelling article in today's Times about Brandon Jennings, a highly regarded basketball recruit from Compton who originally committed to USC, switched to Arizona and then decided to skip college all together.

Jennings will play for one year in Europe, and many presume that he'll be back in the U.S. next season to play in the NBA. He can't go directly to the NBA from high school because of a league rule that the head of the NBA players' union isn't very happy about:

"I continue to be against an age limit, I'm against limiting the options these kids have," union executive director Billy Hunter said. "It's going to be a very big issue the next time we negotiate. . . . I'm strident in my position to eliminate the age limit."

The NBA's current collective bargaining agreement with the union expires after the 2010-11 season.

Hunter said the 2005 approval of a rule that players need to be 19 and a year removed from high school graduation to be drafted came about because it was "the only sticking point to close the deal," and was inserted at the "insistence" of NBA Commissioner David Stern.

I happened to bump into Stern a couple weeks ago during the NBA Finals and asked him what he thought about the age limit (as established in the league's collective bargaining agreement). His first reaction was glib. "Hey! I signed the deal — I have to be happy with it!" When I asked if there was any way to improve it, he added, "Well, we asked for two years. We got one. Tune-in in three more years."

So there's the sticking point.

Photo by Jonathan Daniel / Getty Images

Comments

[UCLA Bruin Alum]

"He's forced to due so..."

Mr. Rose, your Southern Cal education is showing. Aren't you embarrassed?

[bruinjoe]

Hey Trojie, why does the University of Second Choice even recruit kids like this (or either OJ, Davon, Purvis Miller, Rey Rey, Winston Justice, C. Washington, its entire basketball team, its entire football team, etc.)?

[Adam Rose]

UCLA BA - Ha, yes, that was a silly typo. I'd originally said something about "due to an NBA rule ..." and then chopped it. The wording has been cleaned up.

BruinJoe - Lumping in "entire" teams is risky biz. Remember that UCLA and USC often compete for the same recruits, and few programs (including UCLA) have a clean rap sheet.

I also wouldn't put Maualuga on that list because of the circumstances surrounding his incident, and I'm not sure what you're talking about with C. Washington (who overcame academic concerns). L. Washington? Now we're talking. Combine his background with OJ, Davon, and Miller, and the USC basketball team obviously deserves the level of scrutiny it's getting.

[bruinjoe]

Aren't "academic concerns" a consideration in SUC's admissions process. Honestly, do you think UCLA would have admitted C. Washington or that he would not have flunked out there. I suggest that you take a piece of paper, draw a line down the middle and on one side list all the SUC athletes with problems, academic or legal, and all the Bruins who have had the same problems. I think you will get my point. Unfortunately, neither the LA Times nor this Blog (so long as it is run by a Trojie) will ever address this issue.

[longbordr52]

bruinjoe is absolutely right. I hope he doesn't get banned from the site for criticizing the writer. Adam Rose, many of us feel that you are a trojan at heart. That's not necessarily a bad thing, but it's understandable if many bruin faithful don't take your word as much as they would with a true bruin. I understand, though, that the LA Times is just trying to save money by having one writer instead of two. That's simply business. I do enjoy checking out this blog every now and then, just to see what's said.
bruinjoe, I recommend you join a site like scout.com or rivals.com in order to get more bruin-based information.

[Adam Rose]

bruinjoe -- I was referring to an academic problem that Washington had when he was in college. No program is immune to that (even Stanford -- remember Brook Lopez?). You can't tell me that no Bruin has ever become academically ineligible. If you want to create a list, be my guest (Bruins Nation is off to a good start). But as you may have noticed, I'm not out to attack anyone. I have, however, documented all the problems at USC since I started.

[pk-in-the-mesa]

baby bear joe boo hoo; boo hoo, did the honey jar spill over

[Sully9]

Missed in all this debate is, where can young players develop and basketball players and human beings... college. The NBA and Europe is not the place to get game time and develop skills. We already know an early entry into the NBA draft is A QUICK ticket to EUROPE. Haha... they need a two year rule... 20 yo.

[pk-in-the-mesa]

Sully9 most of the players don't want to mature they just want the duckets baby thats all. Even John Wooden would have to deal with this and they would stay in school just because of the game, because it's not the love of the game anymore it's the love of money.