I agree. Europeans could care less about our high school 'phenoms' and barely even pay attention to our college 'superstars'. But there's American arrogance for you; we think if someone is big here, he's gotta be big worldwide.

I think a better option would be if Nike and/or Reebok and/or Adidas formed a teen pro or semi pro league right here at home. Take 17-19 year olds who may or may not have finished college, aren't really academically inclined, pay them $50-100k per season plus free accommodation and have a 10-12 team league.

It would be like a half-way house between high school and the NBA, bypassing the NCAA. No one would play past their 20th birthday, and NBA teams would be able to see how good a player is without having to travel to Europe. I think most kids of the socio-economic background that are involved here would prefer to ball at home rather than play in some country that they've barely heard of.

Of course I wouldn't mind living in a villa in Italy or Spain, sleeping with hot European groupies and driving a luxury German car or an Alfa or Ferrari, but I'm not an ignorant 18 year old either.