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Jennings' experiment pays off

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Jeff Goodman

Jeff Goodman is a senior college basketball writer for FOXSports.com. Check out his Yardbarker blog. MORE>>
 
Updated Jun 30, 2009 2:36 PM ET
     
 

NEW YORK

Brandon Jennings sat in his hotel room at the Westin in Manhattan fully dressed in his suit with a car waiting downstairs, hoping its final destination would be Madison Square Garden. When Jennings' name was called by NBA commissioner David Stern as the 10th overall pick, there was a sigh of relief from everyone in the room — including his mother, Alice. Sonny Vaccaro, the former shoe company operative who was sitting in Madison Square Garden and helped nudge the point guard to Italy just about a year ago to the day, had the same reaction. "I'm ecstatic," Vaccaro said. "It all worked out," added Jennings. Four picks later, Jennings walked through the backdoor behind Stern with a huge smile. The Italy experiment could now be deemed a success. What people still don't quite understand, though, is that Jennings didn't have much of a choice when he chose to play overseas instead of a year of college basketball at Arizona. "I would have went to Arizona if the NCAA had cleared me," the 6-foot-2 Jennings said shortly after being taken by the Milwaukee Bucks. "No question." "But I was waiting for the test score and for some reason ... "We had no options," Vaccaro added. "We were rolling the dice." Well, that's not entirely the case. Jennings could have gone the prep-school, junior-college route and even played in the NBA's developmental league — or played the waiting game, hoping that the NCAA ultimately cleared him prior to the start of the season. But who could fault Jennings for taking the more than $1.5 million deal? No one. After an obscure season in which Jennings averaged 5.5 points and 2.3 assists in 17 minutes with Lottomatica Virtus Roma, there were those who thought he would slip out of the lottery. There was even a statement that circulated from Jennings' agent, Bill Duffy, prior to the start of the draft. "Because we do not have a strong grasp of Brandon's draft position, I've advised that he and his family enjoy this day in a more private setting with the people he loves the most," Duffy wrote. "Brandon Jennings will have a very illustrious career in the NBA, and at the end of the day, that is all that is important." "We were scared tonight," Vaccaro said. "But all we know now is that he was the 10th pick." There is no telling where Jennings would have gone had he played a year with Jordan Hill and Chase Budinger in Tucson. Maybe a couple picks higher, maybe even the first point guard off the board. But Jennings was more than happy with the conclusion of the Italy experiment. "It's not for everyone," Vaccaro said. But Jeremy Tyler, the 6-foot-10 San Diego teen who's bypassing his last 1½ years of high school, will be next to give it a shot. "If he stays over there for two years, he'll be the No. 1 pick," Jennings said. Even if Tyler isn't the top pick, but goes in the lottery, it's likely that another will follow. But Jennings' season in Italy hardly proved that the overseas route will be the new fad. "I think you'll see more kids doing it," Jennings said. "I hope they do it." Jennings was deemed a trendsetter when he made the decision a year ago, but there wasn't much of a choice for the flashy point guard out of California. But Jennings made the right one.
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