Brandon Jennings

Jennings’ 55 points broke the team record for most points in a game by a rookie, previously set by Kareem Abdul-Jabbar in 1970, and was more than any rookie scored since Earl "The Pearl" Monroe scored 56 in 1968.

Brandon Byron Jennings (born September 23, 1989) is an American former professional basketball player, who played 9 seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA).

He is known for being the first American to go from high school to the pros in Europe.

After he graduated from Oak Hill Academy, Jennings played for professional basketball club Lottomatica Roma in Italy.

He became the youngest player to ever score 55, collecting the second-highest total for a player under 21, behind only LeBron James's 56 points in March 2005, and the second-most points scored by a Milwaukee Buck (behind Michael Redd's 57 in 2006).

During All-Star Weekend, he competed in the Skills Challenge.

Jennings started all 82 games as a rookie, and led the Bucks to the playoffs for the first time in four seasons, where they lost to the Atlanta Hawks in seven games.

He led his 2006–2007 team to a 41–1 record and the top ranking in the USA Today Super 25 list of high school teams.

In August 2006, Jennings was initially set to join USC.

The film follows eight top high school players—including Jennings—from their hometowns to New York City, for the 2006 Elite 24 at Rucker Park.

On April 24, 2007, he instead committed to the Arizona Wildcats, citing Arizona's quality academic faculty and his desire to play with Jerryd Bayless (Bayless left after one season to enter the 2008 NBA draft).

In November 2007, SLAM Magazine's third edition of PUNKS featured Jennings on the cover along with three other top-rated high school guards (Jrue Holiday, Tyreke Evans and Lance Stephenson).

This performance earned him some of high school basketball's most prestigious awards: the 2008 Naismith Prep Player of the Year Award, 2007–08 Gatorade Player of the Year (Virginia), 2008 Parade Magazine Player of the Year and 2008 EA Sports Player of the Year.

He was rated as the nation's #1 high school basketball prospect in the class of 2008 by Scout.com, the #1 prospect in the ESPNU 150, and the #4 prospect by Rivals.com.

In June 2008, Jennings attended the premiere of Beastie Boys' Adam Yauch's basketball movie Gunnin' For That #1 Spot at the Magic Johnson Theatre in Harlem.

Also attending were Kevin Love, Stephenson, Brook Lopez, Robin Lopez, DJ Augustin and Yauch.

In June 2008, Jennings announced that he was considering becoming the first American to skip college to play professionally in the Euroleague.

The NBA requires players to be at least 19 years old and one year removed from high school before entering the league, meaning that Jennings could not enter the 2008 NBA draft.

Jennings declared that his goal was to play in the NBA and that playing overseas instead of at an American college could be his best route to gain experience and make money until he was eligible to join the NBA.

On July 16, 2008, Jennings signed with Lottomatica Roma of the Italian Serie A.

The contract he signed with Roma was for $1.65 million net income guaranteed.

After earning the contract with Lottomatica, Under Armour gave Jennings a $2 million contract to showcase their products in the Euroleague.

Jennings was the first American player to go straight from high school to play professionally for a European team rather than play for a college basketball team since the NBA's age restriction rule was implemented.

In the Italian Serie A 2008–09 season, Jennings averaged in 27 games, 5.5 points, 1.6 rebounds, 2.2 assists, and 1.5 steals in 17.0 minutes per game.

He shot 35.1 percent from the field and 20.7 percent from 3-point range in Serie A play.

In 16 Euroleague games, Jennings averaged 7.6 points, 1.6 rebounds, 1.6 assists, and 1.2 steals in 19.6 minutes per game.

In the Euroleague he shot 38.7 percent from the field and 26.8 percent from 3-point range.

After a year overseas, he declared for the 2009 NBA draft and was selected 10th overall by the Bucks.

Jennings was selected tenth overall by the Milwaukee Bucks in the 2009 NBA draft.

He became the first player who skipped college to play professional basketball in Europe to be drafted by an NBA team.

Jennings made his NBA regular season debut on October 30, 2009, against the Philadelphia 76ers, where he recorded 17 points, 9 rebounds and 9 assists in 34 minutes.

On November 14, 2009, in just his seventh game in the NBA, after scoring 0 in the first quarter, Jennings scored 55 points in a win over the Golden State Warriors.

Jennings played four seasons in Milwaukee before being traded to the Detroit Pistons in 2013.

He spent his next three seasons in Detroit before he was traded to the Orlando Magic in 2016.

He went on to split the 2016–17 season between the New York Knicks and Washington Wizards, before a final stint in Milwaukee in the 2017–18 season.

Born to Alice Knox in Compton, California, he has a half brother named Terrence Phillips, a former guard at the University of Missouri.

His father died when he was young.

Jennings attended Dominguez High School in Compton, California for his freshman and sophomore years.

Before his junior year, Jennings transferred to Oak Hill Academy in Mouth of Wilson, Virginia.

In his last year of high school, Jennings averaged 35.5 points per game and set the school record for points in a season (1,312).