Player Spotlight Brandon Jennings
Brandon Jennings (born September 23, 1989 in
Compton, California) is an American professional
basketball player for the
Milwaukee Bucks of the
National Basketball Association (NBA) who plays at
point guard.
Jennings was a highly acclaimed high school player, averaging 32.7 points and 7.4 assists as a senior, and won all major player of the year awards in his senior year. After graduating from
Oak Hill Academy, he decided to play professional basketball with the Italian club
Lottomatica Roma instead of playing collegiately for the
University of Arizona Wildcats, leading to controversy and debate on the NBA's "
prep-to-pro" policy adopted in 2006. After a year in Italy, Jennings declared for the
2009 NBA Draft and was selected as a lottery pick by the Bucks, as the tenth overall pick in the draft.
High school
In his senior year of high school, Jennings averaged 32.7 points, 7.4 assists, and 5.1 rebounds per game
[2] and set the school record for points in a season. This performance earned him some of high school basketball’s most prestigious awards: the 2008
Naismith Prep Player of the Year Award, 2007–08
Gatorade Player of the Year (Virginia), 2008 Parade Magazine Player of the Year and 2008 EA Sports Player of the Year. He led his 2006–2007 team to a 41–1 record and the top ranking in the USA Today Super 25 list of high school teams.
[3]
College plans
In August 2006, he chose to attend
USC. On April 24, 2007, he decided instead to join the
University of Arizona Wildcats, citing Arizona's quality academic faculty and his desire to play with
Jerryd Bayless. (Bayless left after one season to enter the
2008 NBA Draft.)
[4] In November 2007,
SLAM Magazine’s third edition of PUNKS featured Jennings on the cover along with three other top-rated high school guards (
Jrue Holiday,
Tyreke Evans and
Lance Stephenson).
[5][6]
In June 2009, Jennings attended the premiere of Beastie Boys'
Adam Yauch's basketball movie
Gunnin' For That #1 Spot at the Magic Johnson Theater in Harlem. Also attending were
Kevin Love,
Lance Stephenson,
Brook Lopez,
Robin Lopez,
DJ Augustin, and Adam Yauch. The film follows eight top high school players—including Jennings—from their hometowns to NYC, for the 2006 Elite 24 at Rucker Park.
In June 2008, Jennings announced that he was considering becoming the first American to skip college to play professionally in Europe. The NBA requires players to be at least 19 years old and one year removed from high school before entering the league, meaning that Jennings could not enter the 2008 NBA draft. Jennings declared that his goal was to play in the NBA and that playing overseas instead of at an American college could be his best route to gain experience and make money until he was eligible to join the
NBA.
[7] At the time, Jennings was ranked as the No. 1 prospective college freshman by Scout.com,
[8] No. 1 by ESPN.com
[9] and No. 4 by Rivals.com.
[10]
Italian career
On July 16, 2008, Jennings signed with
Lottomatica Roma of the Italian
Lega A.
[11] The contract he signed with Roma was for $1.65 million
net income guaranteed
[12] and after earning the contract with Lottomatica,
Under Armour gave Jennings a $2 million contract
[13] to showcase their products in the
Euroleague. Jennings was the first player to play for a European team rather than play for a
college basketball team since the
NBA's age restriction rule was implemented.
In the Italian Lega A 2008-09 season, Jennings averaged in 27 games, 5.5 points, 1.6 rebounds, 2.2 assists, and 1.5 steals in 17.0 minutes per game. He shot 35.1 percent from the field and 20.7 percent from 3 point range in Lega A play.
[14] In 16
Euroleague games, Jennings averaged 7.6 points, 1.6 rebounds, 1.6 assists, and 1.2 steals in 19.6 minutes per game. In the Euroleague he shot 38.7 percent from the field and 26.8 percent from 3 point range.
NBA Career
Jennings was selected tenth overall by the
Milwaukee Bucks in the
2009 NBA Draft. He became the first player who skipped college to play professional basketball in Europe to be drafted by an NBA team. Jennings also made a notable appearance at the draft. He had initially decided not to attend the draft and preferred to be at a family function during the draft. After he was drafted by the Bucks, he left the family function and headed to Madison Square Garden. He later came out on stage after the 14th pick was announced to have his picture taken with NBA commissioner
David Stern, just like all drafted players who attend the draft.
[16]
During Jennings's NBA regular season debut on October 30, 2009, against the
Philadelphia 76ers, Jennings recorded 17 points, 9 rebounds, 9 assists, and hit 2 three-point shots, just shy of a triple-double, and played 34 minutes. In his second game, on October 31, 2009, against the
Detroit Pistons, also the debut in
Bradley Center, Jennings scored 16 points during the third quarter and a team-high 24 points for the game to lead the
Milwaukee Bucks to their first victory of the 2009–10 regular season.
On November 14, 2009, after a scoreless first quarter, Jennings scored 29 points in the 3rd quarter against Golden State en route to a total of 55 points in the game to break the team record for most points by a rookie previously set by
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar in 1970. Jennings's performance was the most points scored by a rookie since
Earl "The Pearl" Monroe scored 56 in 1968. He became the youngest player to ever score 55, collecting the second-highest total for a player under 21, behind only
LeBron James's 56 points in March 2005, and the second-most points scored by a Milwaukee Buck (behind
Michael Redd's 57 in 2006).
[17] On February 2, 2010, he was selected to compete in the
Skills Challenge.