A Bevy of Thoughts on Jeremy Tyler

If there’s one certainty about the future of Jeremy Tyler, the first American to leave during high school to play basketball professionally overseas, it’s that everyone has an opinion. Here’s a sampling of opinions that I wasn’t able to include in my profile on Tyler for Sunday’s paper. Our esteemed N.B.A. writers Howard Beck and Jonathan Abrams helped me compile these.

Olden Polynice, 15-year N.B.A. veteran who has helped Tyler work out in San Diego:

“This A.A.U. stuff is totally out of hand. It starts so young. What’s next? The fetus and the embryo? They’re getting lower and lower.”

Jeremy Tyler on his own journey overseas:

“If I go to college and fill up an arena with 30,000 people, I don’t get a penny. In my profession with what I’m doing in my life, it doesn’t need a full college degree. I’m definitely going to take classes over there. I want to be there, have fun and learn stuff that I don’t know. I’m going to study the culture, study the language and how their lifestyle is different than mine. I don’t know another language. I want to learn something else.”


A Western Conference general manager on Tyler and Brandon Jennings going to Europe. (He couldn’t speak because of the risk of being fined for commenting on a player not yet eligible for the draft):

“Why wouldn’t a player want to earn income as early as they can?”

An N.B.A. executive who also couldn’t be named because of the risk of being fined:

“In reality, we pretty much know who the special players are by the time they’re 18. So am I going to get better by playing against guys my own age, with all the time restrictions on practice? Or go to Europe and play against men? I can practice with a professional coach and I can practice 8 hours a day.

“For that young player, if he’s giving himself two years to get ready for the draft, you can obviously make the case for (Europe) to be more beneficial.”


Yet another N.B.A. executive, who yet again could not be named:

“I don’t like putting race in it, but it’s amazing how the rules are made prohibiting all these black kids from going to the draft. In hockey and baseball they can turn pro. I’m trying to figure out why every time it can benefit these young black kids going pro they put rules in. If the kid is good enough, he should be able to go. Put in a rule that makes kids who go to school stay for two or three years. I have no problem with that. But this all comes from kids not being able to come out of high school.”

Craig Robinson, Oregon State’s coach who played professionally overseas:

“I think there are other ways to skin the cat, having lived over in Europe and played over there and watched kids come along the junior ranks, it’s a good experience for them. Would I tell my son to do it as a junior and not play his senior year in high school? Boy, he’d have to be really good to do it. Some kids aren’t prepared for college. This route may be better for them. I can’t speak to Jeremy’s situation. But if college isn’t in your future for whatever reason, it sure is a nice alternative to have other than working at the post office.”

Fran Fraschilla, ESPN college analyst who also analyzes international prospects for the N.B.A. Draft:

“He’s going to learn more in the first week of a pro practice in Spain or Italy than he has in his entire lifetime so far.”


Tony Bland, former college player at Syracuse and San Diego State who played overseas for eight years. He has worked out Tyler in San Diego:

“To be honest with you, the way that the Europeans do it, it’s better for them. They grow up in a basketball program. Some of them don’t go to school. They play basketball eight hours a day, so of course it’s better. That’s why you see these guys that can pass and shoot. Here, we look to be Kobe and LeBron. We don’t aspire to be Dirk. But skill wise, the European route is better. Me being a trainer, it’s hard for me to say that.”

Bland on Tyler’s decision:

“I think he’s a terrific player. I think he’ll be ready for any obstacle thrown in his way. I don’t think he’s far away mentally. I think it’s a great idea for him. He has the support of his family. And to be honest with you, tomorrow is never promised. He aspires to be a pro and has the opportunity to achieve his dream right now.”

Sonny Vaccaro on the critics of Tyler, who have included ESPN’s Dick Vitale and Doug Gottlieb:

“The critics who will criticize him are all people who earn a good living on commenting on amateur athletics. That seems to me to to be a contradiction.”

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Yep, the naysayers likely benefit from college basketball’s popularity. Avoiding college, doesn’t help them. Europe’s system is built up from their soccer system. Kids are signed as pros as early as 12. Wasn’t Tony Parker a pro in France at 16?

As for the one NBA exec who thought race played a role, that’s nonsense. The difference is that college basketball and college football are HUGE REVENUE programs for college sports. Baseball and hockey are not. The NFL and NBA like having college act as their minor leagues, so they have an understanding. Interestingly, our soccer players are the ones that get hurt the most by the US’ college-as-minor league approach.

In Europe soccer clubs routinely sign players in their early teens. Professional debuts at Jeremy Tyler’s age are far from uncommon.

Due to age, the families are necessarily involved and, in cases of exceptional talent, the clubs often allow parents and guardians to follow the athletes in order to lessen the impact of any displacement, arranging for employment and various other amenities.

Expect this to have profound social, economical and cultural ramifications. The maverick moves of Jennings and Tyler might soon become the norm as it won’t take the black and urban talent – already exploited by the sponsors, speculators and sharks involved in basketball prospecting – long to cash in on the hype the recruiting establishment generates.

Heck, they might forgo high school altogether for a small fortune, which now seems more accessible than ever. Conversely, it won’t take parents – especially the overzealous ones – that long either to make the same choice.

As the commoditization of athletic talent continues to impact not only the industry of sport but also its the principles, this could reach even further as a spike in high school dropouts in the aforementioned demographic could send massive ripples through foundation of America’s secondary school system.

This could potentially expedite Overlord of Basketball David Stern’s NBA Euroleague pipe dreams or force his hand in expanding the minor league system at home.

Jeremy Tyler has opened a floodgate. I wish him the best of luck in his journey and hope it will be remembered as that of a pioneer instead of a cautionary tale.

He’s not going to be a pro forever; his earning potential will probably be tapped out in his mid-30s at the lastest. After that, it’ll probably be nice to have a college degree…might as well get it while it’s free!

I think that Jeremy Tyler’s decision is his own personal choice, however, I don’t agree with it. He should finish high school for sure then maybe go overseas to gain that professional experience. Another alternative for Tyler should be finishing college and graduate with some type of degree. Sure filling up an arena is not gonna get him a penny, however, an education will. I also believe that he might be highly recruited at first but what if he is a bust? What happens then? Without a high school diploma or a college degree he wont even be able to work at a post office as said by Mr. Craig Robinson. Finally, I disagree with Tyler’s choice because professional basketball is not always for sure, an injury can occur and he will have nothing to back him up if he has a career ending injury. I wish Tyler the best of luck and that everything works out for him.

I think the not out of high school rule had a loophole that NCAA didn’t phathom any high school kid would figure out. But they did. That rule should never have been introduced anyway. If NBA GM’s and owners want to get a kid out of high school more power to ’em. If they don’t pan out it was the kid’s decision

I’m sure there are a bunch of kids that declared for the draft that didn’t get drafted and hired an agent and couldn’t play in college and tough luck for them. Otherwise you got Moses Malone, KG, Kobe, Lebron, T MAC, Dwight dominating the league and guys like Kendrick Perkins, Tyson Chandler, Eddie Curry, Al Harrington and Jefferson, Jermaine O’neal as mid to high level guys and guys like Kwame, Telfair, and Shaun Livingston that turned out to be big busts.

But look at the last 30 years. Sam Bowie, Darko Milicic, Big Country Bryant Reeves, Adam Morrison, Bobby Hurley, Jason Williams (duke). There are plenty more I know but they all finished college or at least did a few years and milicic did his thing in Europe and they were all HUGE BUSTS.

So college doesn’t do it for everyone. NCAA wants it’s money knowing the workhorses don’t get nothin’ not even a carrot.

Mario Godinez you made an argument against yourself when you said that basketball is not certain and an injury can happen. That is why jumping on this when he is jump and can easily bounce back for an injury is a good move. He will get time to get him body ready with all the practice time and training they do over there. Also you can always go to college and with the money he will make overseas, he can. He is still going to get his high school equivalent so he should not have trouble going to college lata on. You have people in their 40’s and 50’s still going to college. The big argument has nothing to do with college but college basketball. There is a limit on that. When it is all said and done, I believe he will show that everything he said that he would do, he will accomplish and will be a top pick in the draft he enters in 2 or 3 years. This dude is not a dumb person. He is said to have good grades and come from a family that has its own business. He was gonna be good with or without school. There are people that go to school that are still stupid because they go to party and someone manage to pass enough classes to graduate in maybe 5 or 6 years. That degree helps them get hired but they still the same idiot but making more money and I pretty sure in your life you have ran across people like this. I believe that he will learn what he needs to learn and wants to learn in life school or no school. I do hope he goes to college lata on and gets a degree but if he doesn’t that does not make him stupid. You can actually learn stuff you have to take in college from reading. Your ever see Good will Hunting. i am sure he will have a lot of time to read while adjusting to a new culture away from distractions.

People who trying to hold Jeremy Taylor for what they think will happen is stupid. Kids are already being exploited by their parents and others in a whole lot of things. it happens with child actors all the time. The thing is people are corrupt and the closer they get to money they will sink to new lows. Everyone is not like this. You can’t jump on Jeremy Taylor because of evil people who are doing the same thing in college. They use athletes to get them large amounts on money. That is the world we live in. The dude’s decision is not the issue but the fact is he is going against a system that people have accepted no matter how shaky everyone knows it is. You have had coaches who have live about their credentials to get a million dollars job at schools and did corrupt stuff to get the top talent so they can win and maybe move on to better paying schools that can easily get talent. How hard is it to win in college with talented players. Some people need to wake up because you say one way is the devil because you have gotten comfortable with the devil already in place.

If he needs a college degree once his pro career is over then he can go back to school then. Some ignorant people might be surprised how many non-18-to-22-year olds there are in college.

For those of you who think he “needs” his high school diploma and a college education, he can always get those if he wants after his career. However, he’s going to make enough money in his first year as a pro to pay for college. Why do we even debate this issue with the first basketball player to drop out of high school and pursue a pro career, but no one ever complains about tennis players doing the same?

Exactly

I am from Greece, a potential country for Jeremy to play Pro.
All i can say is that i think is better for him to stay in college, i don’t think tha teams who are makin championship dreams, would spent one out of their two spots for american players to a 17year old with no Pro experience, he’ll propably play for a minor team and wont get to practice with the very best players and the very best coaches, everyone in Europe if his managers marketing works good, will expect to see to his team the new KG, no team in Europe will have an interest of working with a kid of 17 to make him better, will propably try to gain something from his play (points,rebs,def), but when they understand he can not offer any of that he will sit at the bench. For example i don’t think that Jenning gained anything from his Roma experience and on the other hand Roma didn’t gained anything from Jennings. That’s my personal opinion of course and sorry for my bad english.

Colleges are exploiting mens basketball for their profit, expect to see more good players take Taylor’s rout. His reasoning is sound, especially for those not interested in education. College teams will draw more mediocre players than ever before. The women’s game is more like real basketball anyway, where the general skills are improving steadily.