Brandon Jennings has been an object of fascination all off-season, and why not? Until today, he'd been flirting with the idea of going to Europe after high school, of skipping the one-year collegiate requirement and subverting David Stern and the NCAA's talent racket. Whether Jennings actually followed through or not, it was an incredible story.

Now get this: He's actually going to do it. Seriously. No joke. The country's best recruit is saying goodbye to Arizona (and to Lute Olsen, who we'll get to in a second) and taking his game to the rigors of European professional basketball. Incredible.

It goes without saying that Jennings' decision is a huge risk, but I said it anyway just then in case it wasn't clear. The common concerns are as follows: He'll get eaten up in European ball; his draft stock will drop; he'll become a casualty of lower profile; living in Europe will take a mental toll on him. Etc. With all due respect, these concerns seem about as realistic as this football simulation.

European leagues are good, and Jennings might struggle to adjust, but it's not like he's going to get worse. If his draft stock was going to drop, it would probably drop in Arizona, too. NBA scouts pay just as much attention to overseas scouting as they do domestically. His overseas adjustment will take a little time, sure, but he'll be back in the U.S. before he knows it. And so on and so forth. This is not 20 years ago. Jennings is not going to play in Iceland. He'll be just fine.

And, as Dan Shanoff writes today, we owe him something of a salute. It takes giant, Raftery-esque onions to step up to the system, take a look around, realize the system sucks, and peace out.

As for Lute Olsen -- may I suggest group therapy with Gary Williams?

Related: Pac-10 Basketball