You have heard of Brandon Jennings. He had problems attaining the requisite scores to go to a D1 school and decided to play his first year out of high school overseas. His struggles were documented, but he was still a lottery pick of the Milwaukee Bucks. There were many doubters. He has shut them up thus far. Through five games, Jennings is leading the Bucks in points-per-game (18.4), assists-per-game (4.4), and minutes-per-game (31.6). Doubters have become believers, and it has made the NCAA nervous that young players will read up on the Brandon Jennings Experiment, deciding to play overseas for a year, pocket that money, and then hopefully be a lottery pick in a future draft. Not so fast..
While Brandon Jennings may have “cheated the system”, there are those that believe he will be a rare exception. They look at someone like Jeremy Tyler, who has not yet tested his luck in the NBA or its draft, but has been struggling mightily overseas in Israel. Tyler left the states a year younger than when Jennings left; he left before he completed his senior year of high school. His coach in Haifa is not too fond of him thus far, calling him lazy, out of shape, naïve, and immature. I find it interesting that after only two games, Pete Thamel of the New York Times can already confidently say,
The Milwaukee Bucks rookie Brandon Jennings skipped college and had rocky moments while playing last season in Rome. But they were nothing compared with Tyler’s.
What does this tell us? Not much, yet. Tyler still has a lot of time to prove himself overseas. And let us not forget how much criticism Jennings received before becoming a solid player in the NBA. It seems like some of our memories are very short. I think it is way too early to call Tyler a bust. However, if Tyler is unable to thrive in Israel and does not pan out in the NBA, then perhaps Jennings will be looked at as a fluke success story, and Tyler’s story may dissuade others from following his path.
One thing that is certain is that there are a lot of important people paying particular attention to how Tyler fairs in the long run. Those entities include advisors like Sonny Vaccaro, agencies like Wasserman Media Group, executives within the NCAA, David Stern, shoe companies, and many others. Personally, I hope that Tyler wakes up and gets his mind right, because as an agent, I love having more options for potential clients. If a future Jennings or Tyler came to me asking for guidance on what to do, I’d like to have confidence that playing overseas instead of NCAA basketball will not kill his future.
7 replies on “Jeremy Tyler Already Has His Doubters”
The only fans still supporting Jennings during the NBA draft had been in his camp since high school. Similar criticisms were floated about Jennings during his time abroad. There wasn’t an ounce of good press regarding Jennings between his announcement to go abroad and his first solid performance for the Bucks.
I expect Jeremy Tyler to be the same story. If he can push through two years of criticism and less playing time, he’ll get the chance to prove his game in the NBA. Playing team-oriented ball in a pro league has obvious benefits to young players.
Too early to tell. He’s a year younger than even Jennings, and a big man. They take the longest to peak usually.
The key (as it was with any successful high school to pro leaper) is their maturity level. Talent, while necessary to make it, is probably #2 to mental approach. The bigger high school successes in the NBA were mature well beyond their years. The failures had poor mental focus. simple as that.
Did you see that Maccabi Haifa Israeli basketball game with that kid Jeremy Tyler who is a 6’11 260lb beast who left high school early to play pro basketball…? The Guy is going to be good….. I was watching the game on http://www.triangleinternet.tv and Jeremy Tyler didn’t do that well, he only had 1 point but you can tell he’s got a lot of talent.
I heard their doing an ESPN Outside The Lines show on him that will be televised mid November!! and a reality show called Inside Israeli Basketball that will be on National TV. I can’t wait. you can see a promo video of the show @ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3XGKTE4hPGs . Its pretty cool. I did not think Israeli Basketball was so popular!!
Add Seth Davis to the list of doubters. He hates on WMG’s decision to send Makhtar Ndiaye over to help Tyler, thinks Sonny Vaccaro cared more about his own agenda, and mentions that the kid is really alienating himself from the rest of the team.
For more: http://www.fannation.com/si_blogs/hoop_thoughts/posts/85521-jeremy-tylers-story-turning-quickly-into-cautionary-tale
I think its safe to assume that regardless of Tylers outcome there will be others that will try their luck overseas. There is no particular route for success, just loopholes, and Jennings has found a fantastic way to earn (money) your position into the NBA after highschool.
[…] see players choose the path of Brandon Jennings by going to Europe as opposed to their requisite year of college. There also certainly will be those who are not fit to make that jump. Hopefully we do not see a […]