Europe prepared Jennings for the NBA

MILWAUKEE (AP) - After surviving a deadly earthquake and rioting after games in Italy, the NBA will probably seem like a vacation to Brandon Jennings.

The point guard, taken 10th by the Milwaukee Bucks in the NBA draft, was introduced Friday at the Bradley Center, site of his strong performance in the McDonald's High School All-American Game in March of last year.

But so much has happened to Jennings in the 15 months since.

He was the 2008 Naismith Player of the Year as a senior at Oak Hill Academy in Virginia and committed to play at Arizona. But he elected to turn pro and joined Lottomatica Virtus Roma in a decision that, given his high draft pick, could encourage other prep players to leave the U.S. for Europe.

They might change their minds if they hear Jennings talk about the April 6 tragedy in central Italy that killed nearly 300 people, displaced some 50,000 and toppled entire blocks of buildings.

"I felt the earthquake," said Jennings, a Compton, Calif., native. "My mom was going around the house screaming and yelling and waking us all up at 3 o'clock in the morning freaking out. It was 70 miles from us.

"I wanted to make a donation because in California we have a lot of earthquakes so I'm used to that type of stuff and knew what the people there were going through. I got to go by the (epicenter) and it was really bad. I learned I'm a pretty strong person mentally."

Things didn't go much better on the court. In Europe, he averaged 5.5 points and 2.3 assists in 17 minutes in 27 Italian League games. The 6-foot-1, 169-pound Jennings said there was a good reason for that.

"I played against grown men who were all like 28 or older," he said. "Even though I'm quicker than the Europeans, they could do things to get me off-balance or knock me down. I picked up a lot of bad habits overseas with defense. We could hand-check, we could push, we could even choke a guy. But over here you can't do that so I'll have to ease up a little bit.

"I learned it's like life-or-death over there. If you're losing you might have a riot out there. You're going to have some angry people."

His new coach, Scott Skiles, knows what Jennings went through.

"I had that experience myself," Skiles said. "If you can play over there or coach over there in the chaos that goes on - and have a calm mind while it's going on - and be productive, that's very impressive.

"I went over at a much older age and I can say pretty much a day didn't go by that I didn't want to come home. So at such a young age to be able to pull that off I just think that speaks very highly of him."

Bucks general manager John Hammond said that was a key reason he drafted Jennings.

"He's been away from home for three years so he's mature beyond his years," Hammond said. "I think he walks in here with a little chip on his shoulder because he thinks he can be something special in this league and something special in this draft class."

The Bucks are hoping Jennings can bolster their backcourt along with sharp-shooting guard Jodie Meeks from Kentucky. But they do have point guards Luke Ridnour and Ramon Sessions on the roster and scoring punch up front with Michael Redd and Andrew Bogut.

Jennings said he'd love to follow in the footsteps of his coach. Skiles still holds the NBA record for assists in a game with 30 on Dec. 30, 1990.

"Hopefully one day if I get close to 30 he'll let me just go ahead and break it," Jennings said. "He said he would, so we'll see if he's telling the truth."