The Jeremy Tyler experiment is not off to a good start

Back in April, Jeremy Tyler made headlines as he decided to fore-go his senior year in high school in order to pursue a professional career overseas. He eventually chose Maccabi Haifa, a professional team in Israel, where he signed a contract worth $140,000.

Initially, I supported this decision.

Playing as a professional against grown men, working on your game around the clock, and getting paid six figures seems like a much more attractive option than playing for a mediocre high school team (San Diego was 15-14 last year) where you will routinely be triple-teamed and mugged by 6'5" high schoolers.

The problem with my initial support is that I didn't know Jeremy Tyler.

Apparently, he is a bit of a primadonna. Pete Thamel, a college sports writer for the New York Times, recently went to Israel to visit with Tyler. Take a look at some of these quotes from the article:

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.

...

He scored just 1 point in his first two games, and his coach was baffled that a player with such great potential could arrive without basic skills like boxing out and rotating on defense. Tyler is lost, Ashkenazi said, if he cannot do what he does best: taking the ball to the rim and dunking.

...

Discussing his problems, Tyler tended to point fingers. Asked about his immaturity, he said his teammates should treat him like a man. Asked about his reluctance to work and listen to his coaches, he said he was skeptical of their knowledge and methods. Tyler, the captain and focus of his high school’s offense, said he was still adjusting to a new role.

...

At a recent practice, Kozikaro spun past Tyler to score a layup.

“If I let up a basket that easy, I would want to stab myself,” Kozikaro said.

Instead, Tyler said that Kozikaro had fouled him with his elbow. Kozikaro, who has been playing at a high level since Tyler was in the first grade, said he just laughed.

Jeremy Tyler has struggled in his first year playing professionally.
(photo credit: NYT)

Brandon Jennings struggled as well during his one season in Rome. But he struggled for different reasons than Tyler. You see, Jennings is a dynamic, play-making point guard that excels in the open floor and when he is given the opportunity to create.

Perfect for the NBA. Not-so-much for European play, where point guards are expected to run the team and set up the offense.

Jennings struggled to due a clash of styles. Tyler is struggling because of an attitude problem.

But before you go and say that Tyler is a bust, or that he made a bad decision going pro, consider this: we are talking about an 18 year old kid that did not even graduate high school that is going through a massive culture and lifestyle change. In the US, he was a god at the high school level. Recruiting expert Dave Telep said he was the best eighth-grader he has ever seen. More than one pundit predicted that Tyler would be the first pick in the draft when he was eligible in 2011.

And Tyler clearly bought into the hype.

He has lost his work ethic and motivation to improve himself, both on the court and off, and has yet to realize that he is far from a finished product.

As Sonny Vaccaro put it "all he had to do was go and do what Brandon did, shut up and go learn. He obviously isn't doing that. He thinks that he’s Kevin Garnett."

So maybe this is exactly what he needs. Maybe being dominated by guys that are a long way from being in the NBA is the wake-up call that will turn potential into production. Maybe one day soon he will understand that in the professional world, success isn't handed to you on a silver platter. You have to work for it.

But maybe he won't get it, and Tyler will be the cautionary tale of the downsides of skipping school to play in Europe.

What you need to remember is that Tyler has been a pro for all of 100 days. He still has basically two full seasons to prove himself.

Keep that in mind before you label him a bust.