Jeremy Tyler to Israel

You remember Tyler.

He was a top 10 player in the class of 2010 and committed to Louisville before he decided to drop out of San Diego High School after his junior season to play professional basketball overseas.

It looks like Tyler is headed to Israel to play for Maccabi Haifa, who finished second in the Israeli Premier League last season. From ZagsBlog:

"They"re the favorites," Sonny Vaccaro, who is advising Tyler, said by phone. "It looks like Jeremy Tyler is going to end up with Maccabi Haifa. It's 90 percent done. The contract has not been signed yet. As soon as they do the faxes back and forth, it should be done Tuesday or Wednesday."

An Israeli newspaper is reporting that Tyler has already reached a deal. Haifa is owned by American Jeff Rosen and also features former USC Trojan Davon Jefferson, who made the team after a 60 player open tryout in Florida prior to last season.

Jeremy Tyler looks to be headed to Maccabi Haifa.
(photo credit: Big Apple Basketball)

To be completely honest, I think Tyler is probably making a good decision here, at least when you consider his career. Think about it like this - he is a 6'11" center that some scouts have said could play in the NBA right now. For someone with that size and skill level, is there anyone at the high school level that would actually challenge him? Definitely not in practice (his high school team was right around .500 last year, pretty bad when you have a McDonald's all-american candidate), and rarely in games throughout the season. Instead, he will be going against overmatched high school kids that will double and triple team him, fouling instead of playing defense.

And you expect him to get better that way?

Israel may not have the best basketball in the world, but he will be going up against professionals, grown men that can match, at the very least, his size and strength. Two years of pro ball can only help a big man's development.

Tyler's situation is a little different than Brandon Jenning's. I don't necessarily believe Jennings made the correct decision to head to Italy. Point guards play a much different style in Europe than they do in college basketball (especially for a team like Arizona). While he did get a year of pro experience, I can't help but wonder if he would have flourished in Tucson.