Monday, March 22nd, 2010 at 11:27 am  |  30 responses

This Isn’t the End of Jeremy Tyler

It’s only the beginning.

by Casey Jacobsen

Eight months ago, high school junior Jeremy Tyler made history when he announced he was skipping his senior season at San Diego HS to become a professional basketball playJeremy Tylerer in Europe. Our country is used to athletes leaving college before graduating, but high school? Not surprisingly, Tyler’s decision was very controversial and it seemed like everyone had an opinion.

I’m a big believer that people should mind their own business in situations like this and let his parents and loved ones help him out, but this story was everywhere and it was impossible to ignore. The only thing I was curious about was the question of “why?” Why was he in such a hurry to be a pro? Even LeBron James, widely considered the best high school player ever, graduated from his school before his paid career began.

Jeremy’s answer to a newspaper reporter: “I was the best player in San Diego this year (’08-09) and it was boring. Next year, it would be extremely boring.”

He added this gem in another interview: “I wasn’t getting better. Each game was the same thing. I was getting triple teamed and hacked. It (high school ball) wasn’t for me.”

OK. I get his frustration with playing against inferior talent, but can’t one improve immensely at the college level?

“Pro guys will get you way better than playing against college guys. ” Tyler said.

I swear IJeremy Tyler’m not making this up.

Soon after these quotes, the 6-11 center signed a one-year contract with Maccabi Haifa in the Israeli league for a reported $140,000. He boarded that plane with all the excitement and hope one could imagine. He was going to be rich. He was famous. He was a basketball pioneer…

I wish this story was going to lead to a happy ending, but having played in Europe, I knew it was going to be difficult for a 17-year-old to adjust to a new game and foreign culture with so many expectations.

Just this past Friday, Jeremy decided the pro league in Israel wasn’t for him either. Without consulting his parents or his agent, he informed Maccabi Haifa that he was done. He quit after compiling averages of 2.1 points in 7.6 minutes during 10 total games. He quit with only five weeks remaining in the season. He bought his own ticket back home to California and it wasn’t until his team released a statement to the media that those close to Tyler found out about his decision.

I’m not writing this article to try and rub salt in Jeremy’s wounds. I’m sure the kid feels bad enough about leaving his teammates, but I just don’t understand why he wanted to skip his last year of high school in the first place. I guess he was a pioneer in some sense, though. Can you imagine any high school juniors even thinking about going overseas now?

Jeremy’s career is not over, obviously. It’s only just begun. But NBA rules will not allow him to enter the Draft for another season, so where does that leave him? His agent says he’d rather not have Jeremy play in the NBDL, but that might be his best option. I can’t realistically picture many teams in Europe wanting to sign him now or next season after what happened.

I’m not sure he thought his decision to quit all the way through. Had he consulted with his agent or Sonny Vaccaro (the man who played a large part in all of this, as well as Brandon Jennings contract in Italy last season), they would have told him to just stick it out for five more weeks and then they could devise a new strategy this summer. But now he’s going to be stuck with these labelsJeremy Tyler (Quitter, Immature, Selfish, Unprofessional) that can follow a guy for the rest of his career.

In a recent interview with the New York Times, Jeremy’s father asked the media to take it easy on his son and to remember this is only the beginning of his son’s basketball career…. not the end. I completely agree with his statements and I’m hoping this difficult experience in Israel will make him a better player and a better (young) man.

Remember, just one season ago, Brandon Jennings was collecting splinters on his backside in Rome during his first year as a professional basketball player. Now, he’s being mentioned as a possible candidate for NBA Rookie of the Year. Maybe someday Jeremy Tyler’s basketball story will have a happy ending that will rival Brandon’s, but it’s going to take more time. Chapter One of this novel is over…and it wasn’t pretty. I still want to stick around and read the rest of the book, though. I love a good comeback story.

Casey Jacobsen is a former SLAM High School First Team All-American and NCAA First Team All-American. He currently plays for Brose Baskets in Bamberg, Germany.

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  • http://www.slamonline.com/ niQ

    I understand he’s young and this is just beginning, but until something good happens, these next 2 years he will be known as the Quitter. I mean, that’s just the first thing that came to my mind when I found out he quit.

  • jumpman3224

    So what if you’re the best player in SD as a Junior. Why not spend your senior year trying to be the best player in the state or the country? I hope things work out for this kid and that he grows and matures from this situation, but I also hope he understands why no coaches are going to want to work with him and fans are going to be skeptical about him.

  • The Philosopher

    I think he should get a diploma or GED, first of all. Take this situation in his life, and use it as motivation. He has to be hungrier than he ever thought he could be. Silence not only his old critics, but his new ones also. Stay in the gym, get stronger. Physically, but especially mentally.

  • http://www.michaelcho.com M Cho

    It’s unbelievable that you can be 17 and need to plan a “comeback”.

  • TyMo

    This guy needs a friend

  • Saku 39

    Somebody will draft him in two years; probably in the first round if he worksout and interviews well.

  • http://www.innoutnba.com Lucas Shapiro

    Yet another great article by Casey.
    I wish Tyler was the next Brandon Jennings, now I do not know what’s next for the kid. College?

  • that dude

    Nice article Casey. As a layman, I don’t think Casey’s decision to go pro in Israel was a terrible choice, after all, other sports professionals can turn pro much earlier or not go through the college system. But Jeremy should of been prepared for limited minutes and hard times. More than anything Brandon Jennings showed he was mature and professional last year – he didn’t need to dominate the league over there.

  • http://www.slamonline.com/online/category/blogs/san-dova-speak-easy/ San Dova

    He’s going to be better for this.

  • http://sevendeu2u.wordpress.com/ Seven Duece

    Reminds me of a guy from Cali named D’Angelo Collins who was in Amare’s HS class. He wanted to go pro and had all the game to back it up. Unfortunately, his attitude was screwed and I haven’t heard of him since (anyone else?).

  • T-Money

    He doesn’t seem to be very smart. Even for a 17-year old. Somewhat delusional too.

  • JoeMaMa

    He’s a kid. He made a bold move and it didn’t work out for him, and now we have people calling him dumb, selfish, quitter, blah blah blah. He took a chance and it didn’t work out. Foreign culture, no PT, a hard coach, etc. will take its toll, especially on a young man. Remember, MANY pro players from the US do the same thing. The difference is that he’s younger and has more press around. Besides, if we’re gonna have a problem with the decision to go pro in the first place, maybe it should be with Sonny Vaccaro, his parents, and/or his ‘agent’. I wish him all the best.

  • therighttoremainsalient

    Hmmm. Sure you can teach height (what is he 6″11?) but surely we can still teach 17 yr olds a thing or two about development. A 17 yr old can’t accept a NO from his parents?? “MUM can I PLEASE go to MACCABI?”… No son. stay in school.

  • The Philosopher

    He quit high school and the team in a six month span. This kid doesn’t have the fortitude to deal with adversity. He has zero attention span. Lenny Cooke Jr. I don’t give quitters any breaks.

  • http://www.yamahyouth.com Gerwin

    Liked the article (again) Casey. Good job. Man, with all the (new) media it will be hard for Jeremy Tyler to lose the stamp he received the past couple of days.

  • Dfrance

    I honestly can’t blame the kid. He is 17yrs old for crying out loud! People say he should have stayed the 5 weeks but thats a long a$$ time to be somewhere you hate. I blame his parents for not stepping up and helping their son make a smart decision. They saw the dollar signs and forgot about being a parent.

  • tmw554

    This dude is too good for high school, college and the D-League? But he quit a Euro team? Admits he’s not getting better? Sounds like he doesnt want to play he just wants the money. Guess he does fit in today though.

  • thalilbigkahuna

    I agree that his career is not over, and I understand that it would be difficult to leave you family and go play in a different country. That being said, his decision does not show any kind of commitment or work ethic. If you sign a contract saying that you will do something, then you should do it. He should have had someone around him to fully explain what going to a foreign country to play basketball would entail. To make that kind of decision, he should have fully understood what he was about to do, and then committed to that. I am 18, and although I have never played professional basketball, I know that if I were going to make a decision like this, I would follow through on what I said I was going to do. If you are going choose to quit high school and be an adult, then you should act like an adult and fulfill your obligations. What this shows is a lack of maturity, and someone close to him should have realized that he was not ready to take this step and advised him against it, because now people will think of him as irresponsible and immature until he proves otherwise.

  • Stephen

    What is he gonna do now? play in the d-league for a year? he can’t play college basketball now since he lost his eligibility when he turned pro

  • from israel

    i’m from israel and i can tell that a lot of people were very exciting to be the people from the country that make jermy move to history. jeremy was released from haifa because he made a lot of problems like decide to left the game at the half, not coming to practice and things like that…
    he have togrow up and i wish him good luck

  • Casey Jacobsen

    Thanks for all the comments, everyone. @thalilbigkahuna: I do believe that Sonny Vaccaro and his agents DID explain to Jeremy what it was going to be like for him in Israel. I just think Jeremy believed in his skills so much that he expected to start and play big minutes. @Dfrance: I know it’s hard to blame a 17 year old kid…but it is HIS life…and 5 weeks isn’t a long time if they are paying you close to $20,000 per month. He signed a contract and didn’t honor it. That’s my biggest problem here.

  • The Philosopher

    That’s what quitters do.

  • lowblow

    why would u want to miss ur last year in high school? senior year is the best!

  • thalilbigkahuna

    @Casey: Yeah, that would be tough to expect to play a lot and then not get to. Still, I think that is part of understanding what you’re getting into. He should have considered the possibility that he would not get the playing time he wanted. I think my biggest problem is him not honoring his contract also. He committed to play for a certain amount of time, and that is what he should have done. Even though he was not getting the playing time he wanted, I think you can still learn a lot from the bench, and since he is only 17 or 18 that would have been a great opportunity to just watch, learn, work on his game in practice and get better. I wish him luck in the future, but this was just an ill conceived move.

  • I will miss AI

    maybe hes scared that hell suck in college or hes scared his grades will be bad and therefore inellgible for ncaa

  • arlo

    The thing is Jeremy was always surrounded by yes men and adults he had no respect for, then weasel Vaccaro shows up with all the easy answers like you can play pro, make money in Israel and skip the book work of college. Fact is Jeremy is not that good and the average college player even a bit smaller can out play him easily. Now he’s ruined what should have been the right choice of an education while learning the game all because of immature guidance. The kid with the big head got screwed and his dreams crushed.

  • SC86

    @Casey, Have there been any reports that Tyler received a GED? I believe, more than anything athletically inclined that the biggest and perhaps most disappointing problem here is that he is a High School drop out.

  • SmartWop

    Tyler was not mature enough to go and play pro in Israel. That’s normal if you think he was 17. In Europe there are 16 yo guys playing pro in a foreign country, but not anyone is capable of that maturity at so early an age.

    He needed daily guidance and tutorage, he didn’t get it. That’s an error his parents and hist team, together with mr Vaccaro did.

    Wish him all the luck, and suggest he
    1) shuts up
    2) works hard
    3) shuts up
    4) gives his words a weight.

  • pawelpawel

    @ Casey. Although I am a few months late to the debate, I have to ask…your “biggest problem here” is that Tyler “did not honor a contract?” Really?!? You don’t have a problem with him not getting a high school diploma? You don’t have a problem with the fact that a 17 year old is expected (by his family and Sonny V) to somehow mature over night and make adult decisions all by himself? This kid is not prepared or capable of doing anything besides play basketball. He reportedly did not know that he needed a passport to leave the country so he missed his first flight out to Isreal!(?) Because he is ill-prepared for life and has a dysfunctional support system, Tyler may never see the light, which is sad to say about someone so young. No level of athletic ability could ever replace critical thinking, work ethic, maturity, and professionalism.

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