The Morning According to Us

Jeremy Tyler, like Jennings, goes overseas. More will follow.

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Tyler will follow Jennings (seen here), who actually gets paid when people pay good money to watch him.

Jeremy Tyler, a junior at San Diego High School, will forgo his senior year to play pro basketball in Europe. Amazing. And smart. Tell you one thing: College hoops as we know it is doomed.

Tyler's the most talented prep star at any age—so good that his high school team tried to complement him with the prep equivalent of ringers, who were subsequently ruled ineligible. Tyler's team was terrible this year, finishing 15-11, and rather than face another season of triple teams, Tyler and his father, James, decided he should play in Europe. Over there, he'll face real players and new challenges. Brandon Jennings certainly has. The difference between Tyler and Jennings, of course, is that Tyler will get to develop as a player over two seasons.

James Tyler, who's raised Jeremy and owns his own business, makes a great point: The opportunity for education is what will always be available to his son. James and Jeremy see this as no different than Miley Cyrus becoming a professional, or, for that matter, Ricky Rubio. The Spanish phenom turned pro at 14 in Spain. Now, at 18, he might go as high as No. 2 in this June's draft. Tyler—6'11" and oh so agile—is better than Rubio.

For the NCAA, little good can come of this. If Tyler is as successful as many assume he'll be—he's a good bet to be the No. 1 overall draft pick in 2011—or even if he's not, more kids will question why they can't play the game they want, at the level they want, for the money they want, right now. They won't all decide to skip a grade of high school to do it. Let's face it: that will remain an oddity. European basketball is no joke.

But if one kid succeeds, or even fails (with a nice paycheck in hand), regardless of age, more will try just because it's now been done. That's why 27 high schoolers over nine years followed Kevin Garnett's path to a front-row seat at the NBA Draft. To paraphrase James Tyler: You can always get a degree. You don't always have the chance to make millions of dollars.

Even Billy Ray Cyrus is smart enough to know that.

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