Brandon Jennings was a recent high school graduate waiting on his SAT scores to see if he was eligible to play college basketball at the University of Arizona. Brandon Jennings (AKA The Takeover) will now be a professional basketball player in Europe. Forget going to college for a year or playing in the D League, take the euros and head to Europe. Next year, Jennings will enter the NBA Draft with a year of professional ball on his resume.

Jennings had agreed to play point guard at the University of Arizona for Coach Lute Olson. Playing by the NCAA's rules, Jennings' eligibility to play ball was threatened by his SAT scores. Making a sound business decision, one of the most highly sought after high school players has decided to spend his freshman year abroad acquiring an education in the pick and roll.

The agreement between the NCAA and NBA to forbid a player from entering the NBA Draft until the age of nineteen has always struck me as restraint of trade. The NBA sought to get a better handle on its investments after being able to review how a player dealt with the rigors of college basketball. The NCAA is allowed to showcase its "student-athletes" for a year bringing some bling back to the college game. The holier than thou NCAA will tell you that last year's March Madness match up between O.J. Mayo's USC Trojans and Michael Beasley's Kansas St. Wildcats was the product of an S curve. No, it was the product of a desperate NCAA marketing machine and an attempt to spotlight two freshman phenoms who were one and done with the NCAA.

Why go to college for a year if you're Brandon Jennings? For those of you who wail about the benefit of a college education, Brandon Jennings wasn't going to the University of Arizona to study Kierkegaard or take Sociology 101. Brandon Jennings was entering college to improve his spot in next year's NBA Draft. Brandon Jennings didn't transfer from Dominguez High School in Compton, California, to Oak Hill Academy because of the academics. His future is based on what will make him the best basketball player.

Will Jennings earn big euros in Europe? Probably not, but the kid won't have to deny he owned a plasma screen tv or deny that his future agent bought him meals. Will he learn more playing professionally in Europe? Yes, how can a year of on-the-job-training hurt?

Does anyone think sneaker companies are not elated by Jennings' decision. Unquestionably Jennings will raise his marketability in the European market and maybe sell some shoes. What sneaker company would not like that? When he moves to the NBA, he retains a niche in the European market.

Is this bad for college basketball? I believe it's good for the college game. It's going to force the NCAA to look at long term solutions to what is ailing college basketball. Schools should be committed to hiring coaches that will achieve long term success and recruit players that in some way value a college education. Did USC benefit from having Mayo? Yes, but where is the program now?

Lute Olson has been burned twice in the last year by this agreement between the NCAA and the NBA. Olson lost last year's point guard Jarod Bayless to the NBA Draft and now he loses another prized recruit.

The TakeOver