The wheeler-dealer who got Brandon Jennings to Italy out of high school is just as adamant that rising senior Jeremy Tyler has every right to do what he’s doing, the college basketball industry be damned:
“Why aren’t those people interested in the other 30 percent of kids in the state of California who don’t graduate high school? Why are they so concerned with one individual who won’t graduate right now, but who will be financially secure for the rest of his life.
“And let me take it a step farther. What if Shaun Livingston [who turned pro out of high school] would’ve gotten hurt at Duke and would’ve never been able to play again? By the grace of God, he got hurt when he was in the NBA, and so even if he hadn’t ever played again, he would’ve been financially secure for the rest of his life.
“People always talk about what happens if the players get hurt [in the pros without a college degree to fall back on]. I ask, what happens if they get hurt in college [and don't have the pro contract to fall back on]? We are so shortsighted that we forget the basic things in our existence are to be a good person and to financially take care of you and your family. Those are the two things. I don’t know what else there is, really. Be good and be self-sufficient.”
