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The Daily Wildcat

The Daily Wildcat

 

    Brandon Jennings agrees to play for team in Italy

    Brandon Jennings runs down the floor in McKale Center as a senior at Oak Hill Academy. The former Arizona signee was picked 10th overall in the NBA Draft Thursday night.
    Brandon Jennings runs down the floor in McKale Center as a senior at Oak Hill Academy. The former Arizona signee was picked 10th overall in the NBA Draft Thursday night.

    Dave Telep was nearly a prophet.

    After Brandon Jennings verbally committed to play for the UA last summer, Telep, the national recruiting director for Scout.com, compared Jennings’ play to the high-speed highway system of Europe.

    “”If he were on the autobahn in Germany, he would be the fastest guy,”” Telep told the Wildcat. “”He wants to go as fast as he possibly can, push the tempo, be creative, get in the paint and make plays. He wants to do things with a lot of speed and a lot of pace.””

    Jennings has committed to play for Rome-based Pallacanestro Virtus Roma in the Italian league, his attorney and advisor announced Wednesday.

    He is expected to attend an introductory news conference in Rome next Wednesday, according to the Los Angeles Times.

    Though autobahns are the road systems in Germany and autostradas are the systems in Italy, the point is the same. Jennings is a fast mover.

    So fast, in fact, that he opted last week to play in Europe and get paid rather than attending Arizona for a year before heading to the NBA.

    Jennings’ advisor, Sonny Vaccaro, described the terms with the Italian team as a “”three-year, multimillion-dollar”” contract with buyout considerations that would allow Jennings to leave the team for the NBA after a year.

    Family friend Kelly Williams said Wednesday the deal is “”less than seven figures”” per year, according to the Daily Star.

    “”This opportunity will enable Brandon to compete at a very high level in Europe and is also an environment that he and his family will find comfortable,”” Vaccaro said in a statement.

    Jennings has also retained an Italian attorney, Giovanni Imbergamo, to work with the team, according to the LA Times.

    Jennings’ mother, Alice Knox, and his 13-year-old brother, Terrence Phillips, will make the move to Italy as well, Vaccaro said. Phillips will enroll in an English-speaking school and play on a junior club team in Rome.

    As many as seven European pro teams made contact with Jennings’ representatives, Vaccaro said, but Virtus Roma “”moved the quickest, and Brandon didn’t want it to drag on.””

    Again, Jennings is all about speed. If only Telep knew how right he was a year ago.

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