Does Brandon Jennings Speak Italian?

SportsAgentBlog.com has been following the Brandon Jennings situation from the very beginning.  Our most recent posts, Jennings Sets Precedent, Heading Overseas and Brandon Jennings To Go Overseas…But Where?, explained the whole ordeal.  Brandon made more headlines this past week as he signed a contract with a foreign team.  Jennings has now set a precedent as the first high school player to play overseas and make big money instead of playing one year in college. He is telling the NBA and its “one-and-done” college rule to shove off and this could start a trend amongst high school stars.

The latest news on Jennings came in this Wednesday when he quickly ended our discussions and decided to play for Pallacanestro Virtus Roma in the Italian league.  Jennings and his advisor, Sonny Vaccaro, signed a “three year multi-million” contract, with a clause that gives Jennings the option to leave after a year to enter the NBA Draft.  Vaccaro would not give an exact dollar amount yet.  Brandon has also hired an Italian lawyer to help advise him while he is in Rome.

According to Vaccaro, Brandon’s decision to play for Pallacanestro Virtus Roma in the Italian league was because Rome is a major “international city” where Jennings can get a lot of exposure and the head coach also speaks English to the players.  Vaccaro said the city has an American touch to it and welcomes Americans.  Virtus Roma has declared they will make Jennings face the feature of their team this season.  The “multi-million” dollar contract is high for a one year deal in the Italian league, but the young Jennings looks promising and will attract a lot of attention to Roma.

This ordeal is likely to cause many talented young high schoolers to follow in Jennings’ Nike footsteps and cause David Stern to change the idiotic “one-and-done” rule in the NBA. As for now, Michael Phelps better send Brandon Jennings the Rosetta Stone in Italian, so he can start boning up, FAST.