After mediocre finishes for the past few seasons, the Milwaukee Bucks may have finally found their new star player and team leader: Brandon Jennings. Jennings has put up some amazing numbers in his first season in the NBA, and has become known for his prolific scoring, great passing, and crazy hairstyles.
Jennings was born in Compton, California, and began playing basketball at the age of 5. He played street ball at Gardena’s Rowley Park for many years before joining, an elite AAU team, the So-Cal All-stars. He played at Dominguez High School for two years. In his junior year of high school, he transferred to the legendary Oak Hill Academy in Virginia and averaged 32.7 points per game his senior year, setting the school record for points scored in one season. He earned many awards for his outstanding high school career, including the Gatorade Player of the Year Award.
In 2006, Jennings said that he would play college ball with USC, but in 2007 he changed his mind and stated that he would play for the Arizona Wildcats. Jennings felt that he could play pro ball straight out of high school, but the NBA’s new prep-to-pro policy, which prevents high school athletes to join the NBA directly after high school, stopped him from doing so. This led to many players to attend college for one year and then enter the draft the next year. Finally, in June of 2008, instead of playing college ball, he decided to go to Italy and play professionally for a season; signing with Lottomatica Virtus Roma in the Italian League A, and becoming the first basketball player to be a spokesman for Under Armour while playing in Italy.
In the 2009 NBA draft, the Milwaukee Bucks made Jennings the 10th pick in the draft. In a game against the Philadelphia 76ers, Jennings was just one assist and one rebound short of a triple double, scoring 17 points as well. In October, Jennings scored 55 points, breaking the franchise record for points in one game; a record previously held by Lew Alcindor (aka Kareem Abdul-Jabbar).
In the 2010 playoffs, the Bucks were eliminated by the Hawks in an intense series, as Atlanta finished off the Bucks in game seven. However, the Bucks have a bright future, with their prodigy guard leading the way.
