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UA signee Jennings considers European play
Standout University of Arizona signee Brandon Jennings is preparing to pioneer a new route to the NBA for academic nonqualifiers: through Europe. Jennings, a point guard, told ESPN.com he is thinking about playing overseas next season if he does not meet NCAA eligibility requirements to play for the Wildcats.
His mother, Alice Knox, has even hired Los Angeles attorney Jeffrey Valle to explore the unprecedented possibility of a U.S. high school star starting his career there.
Kelly Williams, father of Nets guard Marcus Williams and a family friend of Jennings, said Jennings is only exploring the idea as a second option.
“It’s just Plan B,” Williams said Friday from New Jersey. “First and foremost, he wants to go to Arizona. If that doesn’t happen, then you’re not going to just sit out. You want to compete.”
Jennings, a native of Compton, Calif., attended Oak Hill Academy in Virginia.
Jonathan Givony, president of Draft Express, said at the NBA’s predraft camp last month that the European market would be limited for a point guard such as Jennings, probably netting him less than $100,000.
“But if he wanted to really get creative, he could sign for a year and get an NBA buyout” that an NBA team would have to pay, Givony said. “Then it would make sense for the team and for him. They’d make money that way.”
Speculation about Jennings’ future has built since it became known last month that he was not yet academically qualified to play this fall.
Rim shots
● Guard Jawann McClellan will work out for the Cavaliers on Monday, his third workout of the spring. McClellan has already visited the Bulls and 76ers, saying that both of them told him he is a possibility to join their summer-league teams.
● Having pored over Memphis Grizzlies tapes from last season, UA interim head coach Kevin O'Neill has already passed over some notes to his new boss, Grizzlies head coach Marc Iavaroni. Personnel changes will also be necessary, Iavaroni said. "He's a big part of this process but not the only one," Iavaroni said.
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