American Players Possibly Going to Europe

A nice update from cbssports.com:

Europe still option for recruits, but hardly a vacation

Europe still option for recruits, but hardly a vacation Jan. 13, 2009
By Gary Parrish

So this Brandon Jennings Experiment isn't going quite as planned.

That's what you've heard, right?

Brandon Jennings (left) has struggled some to keep up while playing in Europe. (Getty Images)

That while his classmates -- like Georgetown's Greg Monroe, UCLA's Jrue Holiday and Wake Forest's Al-Farouq Aminu -- are here in the United States making serious impacts on possible Final Four teams, Jennings is over in Europe struggling with the adjustment, averaging only 8.9 points per game and turning the ball over just as much as he's recording assists.

Consequently, you've heard the European clubs have become skeptical of signing more American prospects interested in avoiding college while they wait the mandatory one year post graduation to enter the NBA Draft. And you've heard the market has been diminished for the crop of current high school seniors curious to see whether there's a paycheck waiting in Italy, Greece, Israel or Russia.

That's what you've heard, right?

Well ...

"That's not true," insisted Sonny Vaccaro. "I can tell you, none of that is true."

Vaccaro answered the phone Monday night with the same excitement he always possesses. He explained how he and his wife, Pam, are looking forward to attending President Obama's inauguration next week, then he transitioned right into his favorite topic, i.e., the inner-workings of the basketball world that have featured his fingerprints for decades. Yes, the Godfather of summer hoops turned anti-NCAA crusader is still very much involved in the sport, as the world learned last summer when Vaccaro helped broker the historic deal that made Jennings the first American to choose Europe instead of college. And now Vaccaro is likely just months away from helping secure a similar deal for a similarly heralded high school star, which was the focus of our late conversation.

Here's the gist of it:

• Vaccaro said he had breakfast Monday morning with a table of people working on behalf of or in association with European clubs, and that there are "six or seven" clubs considering offering a contract to an American more interested in spending at least one season in Europe than college. Furthermore, Vaccaro said there are people "right now" scouting various high school players, and that this will continue through March.

"They will make offers," Vaccaro said. "They will make offers (to players) they think can play."

• Though Vaccaro declined to name names -- "Now is not the time for that," he explained -- the 69-year-old legend was very specific about the number of prospects interested in exploring a jump to Europe. He said there are exactly "five" high school seniors who have either contacted him or had somebody working on their behalf contact him, and that there are "eight" underclassmen (juniors, sophomores and/or freshmen) who have also reached out.

"I can say this," Vaccaro said. "(According to) the recruiting things you look at, all of these kids would be considered top 10 prospects in their class. These are kids who are interested in playing professional basketball, and (ones who are) capable of doing it."

As far as this senior class, there is no consensus top 10 list, per se. But the prospects most commonly identified as "top 10-caliber" recruits are Derrick Favors (uncommitted), John Wall (uncommitted), John Henson (committed to North Carolina), Xavier Henry (committed to Memphis), Renardo Sidney (uncommitted), DeMarcus Cousins (uncommitted), Lance Stephenson (uncommitted), Kenny Boynton (committed to Florida), Abdul Gaddy (committed to Washington), Avery Bradley (committed to Texas) and Jordan Hamilton (committed to Texas). Again, Vaccaro declined to name names. But CBSSports.com has previously reported that the prospects who remain uncommitted -- specifically Wall, Sidney and Stephenson -- are the most likely to explore Europe as an option, though it's worth noting that Vaccaro insisted the group of prospects who are intrigued by Europe isn't necessarily limited to uncommitted players.

"I've given teams the names of the kids I think would be worth looking at," Vaccaro said. "That, I've already done."

• One of the common misconceptions of all this, Vaccaro said, is that the European clubs now realize how difficult it is even for a player of Jennings' caliber to transition from American high school basketball to European professional basketball, and that's why options will be limited going forward. But Vaccaro said the actual finances of a deal are barely an issue, because the European clubs put buyouts in contracts that essentially allow them to recoup any financial investment.

For example, let's pretend a European club wanted to offer John Wall, the nation's top point guard, a $1 million contract to play professionally next season. What it might do is put a $500,000 buyout in the contract, meaning if Wall was then selected No. 1 in the 2010 NBA Draft, whichever NBA franchise picked him would subsequently send $500,000 to the European club that initially signed him, meaning the European club would be out only $500,000.

That's how this stuff can work, give or take a few hundred thousand dollars.

"It's been under-reported in the American media, but the buyout pretty much protects the teams," Vaccaro said. "They're going to get most of their money back on the buyout. So money will not be the reason (a European club doesn't sign an American high school player). They might not do it because they don't think there's a player who can help them win games. But money won't be the reason, because they'll get most of that money back."

So what does this all mean?

It means that some group of college fans is almost certainly destined to be disappointed by a prized prospect shunning school the way Arizona fans were when Jennings opted for Europe. It also means the trend will likely continue for many years to come, and that the only thing that has changed in the five months that Jennings has been in Europe is that the difficulty of the task has been underscored for all to see.

Remember, Jennings really is averaging only 8.9 points per game, and he really has turned the ball over just as much as he has recorded assists. That alone proves that playing professional basketball in Europe is much more difficult than playing college basketball in the United States, and then there's the mental side of it that Vaccaro believes is actually the hardest part.

"There was a game where Brandon didn't play (at all) the whole game; that stuff happens in Europe, and you have to know how to handle it," Vaccaro said. "Brandon handled it. But if you're a prima donna who can't handle it, you shouldn't even do it. That guy won't make it. So while I will help any kid who asks for my help, I won't recommend this to a kid who I don't believe in my heart can make the mental part of this journey.

"But I can tell you, Brandon's experience has not hurt (the next batch of) kids," Vaccaro said. "It's just helped them understand that doing this isn't easy."