San Diego High School basketball standout, Jeremy Tyler, is heading overseas to hone his basketball skills. In doing so, Tyler, a Junior, will be skipping his Senior year of high school, foregoing his college eligibility, and taking his game to the Euro league. This has raised many eyebrows and drawn much criticizm around the nation as Tyler is the first prep star to leave high school early for the opportunity to play professionally. I, on the other hand, don't have a problem with Tyler's decision.
If anyone should have a problem with Tyler's decision to forego the balance of his high school and college eligibility, it's me. Tyler was Rick Pitino's prized recruit for Louisville's 2010 recruiting class. Louisville is my team. Tyler's decison directly affects Louisville's future - seemingly in a negative way. Therefore, this is bad news for me and all Louisville fans. However, I think for a player of his caliber it makes sense.
Amateur athletes all over the world often dedicate their life, at the expense of a typical adolescent lifestyle and schooling, to become Olympians or future pros. It isn't at all uncommon for a teenage tennis player or golfer to commit to a rigorous regimine that includes intense training to achieve their ultimate goal. These athletes could work their way through the typical route to achieve the same success but the resources and competition are often not as adequate. The only difference between Tyler and these other athletes is the pay grade during the process.
Not only will Tyler make millions of dollars of the next two years, which never sucks, he will be able to learn and compete from and against a much higher level of competition that can't be replicated in high school or even at a high level Division I college like Louisville.
Once Tyler is eligible for the 2011 NBA draft his experience could be invaluable as it relates to being able to step into the league with a game ready-made for the suitor for his services. Might his game be exposed to a certain extent that would remove the "upside" tag that most NBA teams draft upon? Sure. There is a risk to going this route. But I like the balls he's showing in taking on that risk and the commitment it's going to take to prove what he's out to prove. If he ends up being a top-5 pick, he will have played his cards perfectly and cashed some nice checks in the meantime.
Spanish basketball sensation Ricky Rubio started playing professionly in Europe when he was just 14 years old. By all accounts he will be a top-3 pick in the upcoming NBA draft. Don't seem to hear many people making too many disparaging remarks about his decision - and it came at an even more tender age. As it turns out, his decision ramped up his learning curve and ended up landing him on last years Spanish Olympic team playing alongside the likes of NBA'ers Pau Gasol, Rudy Fernandez, Jose Calderon and Juan Carlos Navarro as a 16 year-old!
Of course, my opinion of Tyler's decision does have a caveat. Given the fact that he's only 17 years old (from San Diego) there are some pitfalls that could be damaging to his future. After all, he will be in a foreign country forced to adjust to many other things beside the skill level of his competition. There will be homesickness, a language barrier to some extent, money issues that he's never had to deal with, increased scrutiny and press as well as the ego-related reality of not being coddled and hyped like he's surely become acustomed to. However, if handled properly, dealing with these things could be a good real-life lesson in what it takes to be a professional.
Obviously, we won't know how Tyler's decision ends up playing out for another two years. Maybe he falls flat on his face and never plays anywhere else BUT Europe. But if you're a sensation of his caliber why not cash in on the next two years and be better for it in the long-run?
How Tyler's decision plays out could lead to more high school players making a similar decision. However, I doubt it will be to the extent we saw high school players jumping directly to the NBA over the past 10 years. I think most players will see the college route as the better option despite the money opportunity in Europe. I think most kids still find playing for a college program, experiencing the college lifestyle, trying to carry their team to the Final Four or winning a national championship a dream they'd rather try and fulfill on their way to the NBA.
Furthermore, I think most players parent(s) will require that they finish high school so the European option would only be a one-year proposition. Therefore, the probabilityof gaining much more than money a year earlier won't be as valued as the opportunity to learn from a coach, like Pitino, for that one year, getting to play on national TV, in front of your family or being the poster-child for One Shining Moment.
We shall see.
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