Oct 6, 2008 | 12:01 AM | Player Profile: Brandon Jennings (Virtus Roma)

by: Paul Miles

Brandon Jennings is positioning himself to be Europe's Kobe Bryant. The 19 year Oak Hill Academy grad forsook a commitment to Arizona to become the first American teenager to play in Europe. He'll do so for Italy's Virtus Roma. Jennings move will be put under the microscope and could open the door for teens to dodge the NBA's 20&under rule, or could permanently cast young ballers into the "College or Else" territory.

Hit the jump for more.

Jennings, a 6'1" left handed point guard, has drawn comparisons to Kenny Anderson, Allen Iverson and Steve Nash. He's a pass-first distributor with excellent hands and good court awareness. His size, shooting and shot selection can be problems.

It's obvious that Jennings is planning for a one and done as he'll be draft eligible in '09 (projecting top 10 on DraftExpress). But I'm curious how he'll fair first making the high-school to European adjustment and then adjust from the European game to the NBA game.

The first real test for Jennings will come on October 23rd when he he'll face up against DKV Joventut, and their 19 year old point guard Ricky Rubio. The Jennings v Rubio clash will give us all a good barometer to just how NBA-ready Brandon really is.

Labels: brandon jennings, dkv joventut, euroleague, globalization, prep schools, ricky rubio, virtus roma

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