Jeremy Tyler’s Israeli Vacation: Not So Good

Jeremy Tyler decided months ago that college -- and his senior year of high school -- just wasn’t for him. Despite an oral commitment to Rick Pitino and Louisville, Tyler decided to bolt for overseas to get a jump on his pro hoops career. He signed with Maccabi Haifa for $140,000. Whatever short term payoff he got from leaving early might not be worth it if the dire tone of this New York Times piece is any indication.↵↵⇥His coach calls him lazy and out of shape. The team captain says he is soft. His teammates say he needs to learn to shut up and show up on time. He has no friends on the team. In extensive interviews with Tyler, his teammates, coaches, his father and advisers, the consensus is that he is so naïve and immature that he has no idea how naïve and immature he is. So enamored with his vast potential, Tyler has not developed the work ethic necessary to tap it. ↵⇥↵⇥“The question is whether he’ll take responsibility of his career,” Haifa Coach Avi Ashkenazi said. “If he thinks he’s going to be in the N.B.A. because his name is Jeremy Tyler and he was a very good high school player, he will not be.”↵⇥

↵↵↵The story goes on to detail the various difficulties dealing with teammates, coaches and life in general. He seems like he’s struggling with the basics in every facet of life, whether it be travel (not realizing he needed a passport to fly internationally) or hoops (where his coach says he doesn’t box out or rotate on defense).↵

↵↵But perspective is needed here when evaluating Tyler’s decision. Just as people tout Brandon Jennings’ choice to go overseas a huge success because of his early NBA accomplishments, people who are against the overseas route for prep prodigies will likely use this as a way to further their agenda. People, it’s all about sample size.↵

↵

↵↵It’s just the tip of the iceberg on why Tyler is probably so full of himself. Did he become an egomaniac when he went overseas, or did this completely insane “support” staff of hangers-on lead him to this point? I would imagine the anti-Euro crowd will argue only a poor support staff would urge a player to go overseas to start with, but that’s not fair. If you’re a kid from an impoverished area trying to get your family out as soon as possible, particularly for safety reasons, you take that payday and you don’t look back.↵

↵↵Tyler was the No. 6 center in the class of 2010, according to Scout.com. There is no guarantee he would’ve been a great player had he gone to Louisville with Rick Pitino. In fact, with a clearly toxic group of people in his life, enabling his every bad decision, it probably seems safer that Tyler would be gone sooner than later a la Derrick Caracter.↵

↵↵Back to the main issue: Just as Shoals begged for peace when it comes to the early returns on the Brandon Jennings experiment, we should do the same with Tyler. Neither result offers us a definitive paradigm through which we can view the process. Oh, and don’t pronounce Tyler’s career dead because of one decision that hasn’t worked out at age 18. Think of the mistakes you made in high school.↵

↵