Its official: Jeremy Tyler to Maccabi Haifa

Last week, news leaked that Jeremy Tyler, a 6'11" high school junior that opted out of his final year of high school, was close to signing a deal with an Israeli team.

Now he has.

It is a one-year contract worth between $140,000 and $150,000, depending on where you look, and also includes the standard Euro benefits - car, apartment, business class tickets. He will have to go through the signing process again before next season.

Tyler had offers in Spain, Italy, Switzerland, and Slovenia, some of which were for more money according to Sonn Vaccaro (who advised the Tylers), but decided on Israel because he would have a chance to play in Haifa, and because the team spoke English.

As I said last week, I believe this to be the correct decision for Tyler. While he is an excellent talent with loads of potential, he is still raw and I don't see him improving all that much as he faces triple teams from 6'4" kids during the high school season.

I wish him all the best, and hopefully we will hear his name atop the 2011 draft.