Look up Brandon in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

Brandon may refer to:

Names and people[link]

• Brandon (given name), a male given name
• Brandon (surname), a surname with several different origins

Places[link]

Australia[link]

• Brandon, a farm and 19th century homestead in Seaham, New South Wales
• Brandon, Queensland, a small town just south of Townsville
• Centro Brandon Park, a sub regional shopping centre located in Wheelers Hill, Victoria

Canada[link]

• Brandon, Manitoba

France[link]

• Brandon, Saône-et-Loire

Ireland[link]

• Brandon, County Kerry
• Mount Brandon, a mountain overlooking the village
• Brandon Bay, the bay overlooked by the village
• Brandon Creek, County Kerry
• Brandon Hill, a hill between Graiguenamana and Inistoige, Co. Kilkenny.

United Kingdom[link]

• Brandon, Lincolnshire, England
• Brandon, Northumberland, England
• Brandon, Suffolk, England
• Brandon, Warwickshire, England
• Brandon, County Durham, England
• Brandon Castle, England
• Brandon Hill, Bristol, England

United States[link]

• Brandon Corner, California
• Brandon, Colorado
• Brandon, Florida
• Brandon, Iowa
• Brandon Township, Michigan
• Brandon, Minnesota
• Brandon Township, Minnesota
• Brandon, Mississippi
• Brandon, New York
• Brandon, South Dakota
• Brandon, Texas
• Brandon, Vermont
• Brandon, Wisconsin
• Lower Brandon Plantation, Virginia
• Upper Brandon Plantation, Virginia

Other[link]

• Brandon, the name of the dog in the American television series Punky Brewster
• Ulmus americana 'Brandon', an elm cultivar
• Brandon Railroad, Nebraska, United States
• HMCS Brandon, several warships

See also[link]

• All pages beginning with "Brandon"
• Brendon
• Brendon (disambiguation)

This disambiguation page lists articles associated with the same title. If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended article.

Brandon Heath
Background information
Birth name	Brandon Heath Knell
Born	(1978-07-21) July 21, 1978 (age 33)
Origin	Nashville, Tennessee, U.S.
Genres	CCM, pop, alternative CCM, acoustic
Occupations	Singer–songwriter
Instruments	Vocals, guitar
Years active	2000–present
Labels	Reunion
Website	brandonheath.net

Brandon Heath Knell is a contemporary Christian musician from Nashville, Tennessee. He has released three studio albums: Don't Get Comfortable (2006), What If We (2008) and "Leaving Eden" (2011). He is best known for the No. 1 "I'm Not Who I Was" and "Give Me Your Eyes". He was nominated four times at the Dove Awards of 2008 and won in the "New Artist of the Year" category. His second album was nominated for "Gospel Album of the Year" at the 51st Grammy Awards of 2009.

Heath began his career by writing songs as a teenager. His first independently released album, Early Stuff (2004), was a compilation of his earlier songwriting. Also after releasing Soldier in 2004, he signed with Reunion Records to release his first main studio album, Don't Get Comfortable, in late 2006. The album's first single, "Our God Reigns", received a Dove Award nomination in 2007. Heath's song "I'm Not Who I Was" became No. 1 single, staying on top of Billboard's Hot Christian Songs chart for several weeks. It received two Dove nominations, including "Song of the Year". Heath returned in mid-2008 with a second project: What If We. The album's first single "Give Me Your Eyes" was released in July 2008 and ended the year as the second most-played song on R&R magazine's Christian CHR chart for 2008. The song received two GMA Dove Awards in 2009: "Song of the Year" and "Pop/Contemporary Song of the Year".

Early life[link]

Brandon Heath Knell was born in Nashville, Tennessee on July 21, 1978.^[1] His father was a police officer, and his mother was a hair dresser.^[2] His parents divorced when he was three years old, and Heath was raised by his divorced mother for five or six years before she remarried. Heath said that during his early life, he grew bitter towards his family, but in high school he decided to "[come] to the Lord because I wanted to learn how to forgive my dad for some mistakes that he made when I was younger. I had to forgive both of my parents for not sticking together." He was given a guitar as a Christmas gift at the age of 13, and around the same time he began writing his first songs.^[1] Heath was a choir member at his school, Hillsboro High School in Nashville, and was encouraged by his teacher to pursue music.^[3] He also expanded his spiritual horizons by going on faith missions to India and Ecuador, thus setting the table for the mix of religion and music that would soon fuel his professional life.^{[citation needed]}

Heath grew up nonreligiously, but was invited to the attend a Christian Young Life camp as a teenager.^[4] While attending the summer camp at age 16, Heath said he "heard about Jesus for the first time"; he said he never really went to church until attending the camp, and claimed that Young Life "showed me Christ and got me plugged in to a church".^[4] After high school, he became a leader for the camp and is still involved with Young Life across the United States.^[4] Heath attended Middle Tennessee State University and earned a BA in English.^[2] After his guitar was stolen in early 2000, he compiled a demo CD of his songs for sale to help pay for a new guitar.^[1]

Musical career[link]

Heath's original demo CD from 2000 was later released in 2004 as an independent album titled Early Stuff.^[1] During that year he released a second independent album, Soldier, which was produced by Chris Davis.^[1] Don't Get Comfortable The EP was independently released in 2005, containing five tracks that were later included on Heath's debut album.^[5]

[edit] Don't Get Comfortable

Heath's major label debut, Don't Get Comfortable, was released on September 5, 2006.^[6] His first radio single from the album was "Our God Reigns", which garnered a 2007 Dove Award nomination for Worship Song of the Year.^[7][8]

His second radio single, "I'm Not Who I Was", was released around early 2007 and was his first No. 1 song. It topped Billboard's Hot Christian Songs chart for six consecutive weeks starting on July 4, 2007. The song was covered by Jason Castro (from American Idol) at Lakepoint Church.^[9] "Don't Get Comfortable", the title track from Heath's debut album, was also released as a single.^{[citation needed]}

At the 39th annual GMA Dove Awards, Heath was nominated for four Dove Awards, winning in the category for New Artist of the Year.^[10]

[edit] What If We

Brandon Heath toured as a guest on Aaron Shust's 30-city Whispered and Shouted tour from early to mid 2008.^[11] His second studio album, What If We, was released on August 19, 2008.^[12] The album's first single, "Give Me Your Eyes", was released in July 2008 and was his most commercially-successful song to date. It stayed at No. 1 on R&R's Christian CHR chart for 14 consecutive weeks from August to December 2008.^[13] It ended the year as 2008's second most played song in the CHR format.^[14] In 2009, his song "Wait and See" was released as the next single, and by August it placed at No5 on Billboard's Hot Christian Songs chart.^[15] He guest-starred on Christian band Leeland's album Love Is on the Move, on the single "Follow You". In 2011, his Song "Sunrise" was used as the new theme song for Sunrise Communications AG, a Swiss telecommunications company.

[edit] Leaving Eden

Brandon has been supporting his recent studio album with a tour supporting MercyMe. The first single off of his 3rd studio album is "Your Love". Brandon Heath's 2011 release was produced by Dan Muckala who also co-wrote a handful of the songs along with Jason Ingram. Heath has been nominated for three Grammy Awards - Best Contemporary Christian Music Album (Leaving Eden), Best Gospel/Contemporary Music Performance ("Your Love"), and Best Contemporary Christian Music Song ("Your Love").^[16]

	"Your Love" (2010) noicon A 48-second sample of Brandon Heath's "Your Love" featuring second stanza and the chorus sung by Brandon Heath. The song became his third hit single in the US Christian Song.
Problems listening to this file? See media help.

Other work[link]

Heath has partnered in songwriting with Bebo Norman and Matt Wertz, who was one of his roommates.^[8] He has written songs for Norman, Joy Williams and Christopher Williams. He has worked with Sevenglory on their 2007 album, Atmosphere. Heath also co-wrote the song 'Found By You' by Britt Nicole.

Heath was also featured in two songs on the Jars of Clay album The Shelter: "Small Rebellions" and "Shelter".

Personal life[link]

Brandon Heath moved to The Woodlands, Texas in 2008 and was a worship leader at The Woodlands United Methodist Church for a year.^{[citation needed]} He liked being a part of a grassroots ministry and once said that he "felt at home from the moment he stepped off the plane". He has since moved back to his home in Nashville to devote more time to his musical career and to be closer to family. He still considers Texas to be his second home and visits when he has the time.^[17] He currently resides in Nashville, Tennessee.

Carrie Underwood surprised her husband Mike Fisher by having Heath sing his song "Love Never Fails" for their first dance at their wedding.^[18] She had earlier told People Magazine that she was in love with Heath's voice.^[19]

Discography[link]

• Don't Get Comfortable (2006)
• What If We (2008)
• Leaving Eden (2011)

[edit] Awards and nominations

References[link]

External links[link]

• Official website

Brandon Flowers
Background information
Birth name	Brandon Richard Flowers
Born	(1981-06-21) June 21, 1981 (age 31)
Origin	Henderson, Nevada, United States
Genres	Indie rock, Alternative rock, Heartland rock, Post-punk revival
Occupations	Musician, songwriter
Instruments	Vocals, keyboards, synthesizer, piano, bass, guitar
Years active	2001–present
Labels	Island, Vertigo, Marrakesh
Associated acts	The Killers
Website	brandonflowersmusic.com
Notable instruments
microKORG XL Nord Lead 2 Fender Jazz Bass

Brandon Richard Flowers (born June 21, 1981) is an American musician, best known as the frontman of the Las Vegas-based rock band The Killers. He has also released a solo album titled Flamingo.

Early life[link]

Flowers, the youngest of six children, was born on June 21, 1981, in Henderson, Nevada, to Terry Flowers and Jean Flowers (née Barlow).^[1] His older siblings are his brother Shane and four sisters April, Shelly, Amy and Stephanie.^[1] His family lived in Henderson until Flowers was eight, when they moved to Payson, Utah, for two years before moving to Nephi, Utah, at which time he was in the 6th grade.^[2] Flowers lived in Nephi until his junior year at Juab High School. He moved to Las Vegas to live with his aunt and graduated from Chaparral High School in 1999.^[2][3][4]

Career[link]

The Killers (2001–present)[link]

Brandon Flowers responded to an ad that Dave Keuning had placed in the paper in late 2001 whereupon they became The Killers. After several short-lived bassists and drummers, Flowers and Keuning were joined by bassist Mark Stoermer and drummer Ronnie Vannucci and the line up became official in August 2002.^[4]

On July 4, 2010, The Killers were invited to headline the "Salute to the Military" USO Concert at the White House by President Obama. They performed 'God Bless America' and favorites from their catalogue.^[5]

Canadian-American singer-songwriter Rufus Wainwright wrote a song about Flowers called "Tulsa" for his fifth album Release the Stars. Wainwright has stated in numerous interviews that it was inspired by their first meeting in a bar in Tulsa, Oklahoma. According to Wainwright, Flowers was "very flattered and somewhat bashful" about this tribute.^[6]

Flowers has performed with Coldplay, U2, Bruce Springsteen, Pet Shop Boys, Lady Gaga, Fran Healy (of Travis), Andy Summers (of The Police), New Order, Bright Eyes, amongst others. Sir Elton John has listed Flowers as one of his top-five heroes while editing The Independent's World Aids Day special edition.^[7][8]

Flamingo (2010)[link]

Flamingo was released September 6 in the UK and Ireland and September 14 in the US and Canada.^[9] The first single from Flamingo, "Crossfire", was released on June 21 (Flowers' birthday). The video for "Crossfire" was released on July 8 and includes Charlize Theron. As of November 2011, the video has more than 10 million views on YouTube. The album made the Top 10 Albums of 2010 list on UpVenue.com.^[10]

Flamingo charted in the UK on September 12, 2010 at Number 1. It is Flowers' fourth consecutive album to reach No. 1 on the UK charts, including work by The Killers.

SPIN named Brandon Flowers one of "The 15 Best Shows of the Summer" in 2010 for his show at the Shimmer Showroom in Las Vegas.^[11] SPIN also listed him as one of "The 25 Best Fall Tours"/"Must-See Fall Tours".^[12] While on tour Flowers has had special guests including Stuart Price, Andy Summers, and Fran Healy.

Personal life[link]

Flowers married Tana Brooke Mundkowsky on August 2, 2005 on the island of O'ahu in Hawaii.^[13][14] They have three sons, Ammon (named after a Book of Mormon missionary), born July 14, 2007;^[15] Gunnar, born July 28, 2009; and Henry, born March 9, 2011.^[16]

Flowers's mother, Jean Flowers, died on February 11, 2010, after a two-year battle with brain cancer. She was 64.^[17]

Flowers is a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.^[2][3][4] He is featured on the church's website.^[18]

Awards[link]

Flowers won NME Awards in 2005 for "Best Dressed" (also nominated in 2006, 2007, & 2009) and "Sexiest Man" as well as an award for "Most Stylish" in 2011.^[19] He won the award for "Most Stylish Man" at the 2008 GQ awards. He was also listed as one of "The 50 Most Stylish Musicians of the Last 50 Years" by Esquire in 2011.^[20] He was also interviewed by Q Magazine on behalf of The Killers as one of the "Artists of the Century" (November 2009 issue), a second cover photo that year.

In 2012, Flowers was named the #6 Greatest Frontman of All Time by Xfm. ^[21]

He was nominated for Q Awards 'Best Male Artist' in 2010.^[22] He was also nominated for "Best Video" ("Crossfire") at the Shockwaves NME 2011 Awards.^[23]

Discography[link]

Studio albums[link]

Singles[link]

Tours[link]

• Flamingo Road Tour (2010)

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Brandon Flowers

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Brandon Flowers

• Brandon Flowers Official site, from Island Records
• Brandon Flowers Official facebook page
• Brandon Flowers (Fansite)
• Brandon Flowers.com.br (Fansite)
• Brandon Flowers at the Internet Movie Database

This biographical article needs additional citations for verification. Please help by adding reliable sources. Contentious material about living persons that is unsourced or poorly sourced must be removed immediately, especially if potentially libelous or harmful. (January 2010)

Brandon Phillips
Cincinnati Reds – No. 4
Second Baseman
Born: (1981-06-28) June 28, 1981 (age 30) Raleigh, North Carolina
Bats: Right	Throws: Right
MLB debut
September 13, 2002 for the Cleveland Indians
Career statistics (through April 28, 2012)
Batting average	.271
Hits	1,117
Home runs	132
Runs batted in	537
Stolen Bases	140
Teams
Cleveland Indians (2002–2005) Cincinnati Reds (2006–present)
Career highlights and awards
2× All-Star (2010, 2011) 3× Gold Glove Award winner (2008, 2010, 2011) Silver Slugger Award winner (2011) Fielding Bible Award winner (2008) 30–30 club (2007)

Brandon Emil Phillips (born June 28, 1981) is a second baseman for Major League Baseball's Cincinnati Reds.^[1][2]

The Raleigh, North Carolina native was selected in the second round of the 1999 draft by the former Montreal Expos (now the Washington Nationals) after signing a letter of intent to play both baseball and football at the University of Georgia. He instead signed with the Expos on June 21, 1999.

Phillips was traded from the Cleveland Indians to the Cincinnati Reds on April 7, 2006 for a player to be named later, which turned out to be right-handed pitcher Jeff Stevens. With the Reds, Phillips has had a good deal of success, winning three Rawlings Gold Glove Awards, one Silver Slugger Award, and being selected to two National League All-Star teams.

Early life[link]

Phillips comes from an athletic family. His sister is WNBA player Porsha Phillips of the San Antonio Silver Stars and his younger brother is minor league baseball player PJ Phillips.

Phillips attended Redan High School in Stone Mountain, Georgia, where he played basketball and baseball. His #7 at Redan was retired by the school in December 2003.^{[citation needed]} Phillips' favorite baseball player growing up was Cincinnati Reds shortstop Barry Larkin.^[3]

Professional career[link]

Early career[link]

After signing with the Montreal Expos in 1999, he played for the Jupiter Hammerheads. He finished the season with a .292 batting average, 22 home runs, 59 RBI, 3 triples, and 30 steals.

On June 27, 2002, Phillips was part of a six-player trade that sent him from the Montreal Expos to the Cleveland Indians. Phillips was dealt along with Grady Sizemore, Cliff Lee, and Lee Stevens in exchange for Bartolo Colón and Tim Drew.^[4]

In 2003, Phillips won the starting job at second base for the Indians. During the season, he had a season-high 6-game hitting streak. Against the Detroit Tigers on May 20, he hit the first three-run walk-off home run of his career. After that he went 0 for 29 and was sent down to Triple-A after the All-Star break. He was recalled soon after that due to an injury to one of his teammates and finished the season with a .208 average, 6 homers, 33 RBI and 4 stolen bases. Phillips also totaled a .981 fielding percentage.

In 2004, he started the season in Triple-A. He hit .303 with 14 stolen bases on the season and recorded 18-game and 16-game hitting streaks. In the minor league play-offs, Phillips hit .308.

He joined the Indians at the end of the season and played 6 games for them.

Phillips remained in Triple-A for most of 2005. He appeared in six games for the Indians in July but was sent back down following the stint.

Cincinnati Reds[link]

2006–2007[link]

On April 7, 2006, Cleveland's frustration with Phillips' slow progress peaked and he was traded to the Cincinnati Reds for a player to be named later (pitcher Jeff Stevens).^[4] He made an immediate impact, starting the season by being named NL Player of the Week the same month he was acquired by the Reds, hitting .452 (14–31) with 3 home runs and 17 runs batted in for the week of April 17–23. Phillips' 17 RBI were the most for an NL Player of the Week since Sammy Sosa had 19 RBI the week of August 4–10, 2002. Phillips had his first career grand slam that month and 16 straight stolen bases. leading the Reds in hits (148) and multi-hit games (36). He also led all National League second basemen in stolen bases with 25. He produced two 9-game hitting streaks over the season and ended with a batting average of .276, 17 home runs and 75 RBI.

In 2007, Phillips hit 30 home runs and stole 32 bases to become the first Reds second basemen to join the 30–30 club and just the third 30–30 Red, joining Eric Davis (37 HR, 50 SB in 1987) and Barry Larkin (33 HR, 36 SB in 1996). He also joined Alfonso Soriano as just the second second baseman in the 30–30 club.^[3]

On July 3, 2007, Phillips broke a 3–3 tie with the San Francisco Giants by hitting a grand slam that gave the Reds a 7–3 win. In the fourth inning on August 1, 2007, game, against John Lannan of the Washington Nationals Phillips stole two bases on one pitch while the Nationals had a shift on Adam Dunn. On August 30, 2007, Phillips made the play of the month to win the game for the Reds against the Pittsburgh Pirates. With the Reds winning 5–4 in the bottom of the 9th, Nate McLouth of the Pirates hit a single into right field. The runner from second, Josh Phelps, appeared likely to score but Phillips grabbed the ball in shallow right field bare-handed and threw Phelps out at home plate to win the game. On September 5, 2007, he hit his 28th home run of the season, breaking the Reds' single-season record for home runs by a second baseman, formerly held by Joe Morgan.^[5] On September 26, 2007, Phillips hit his 30th home run of the season.

In addition to the home runs and steals, Phillips ended the 2007 season with 187 hits, 107 runs, 26 doubles, 6 triples 94 RBIs, and a .288 batting average. He led the Reds in runs, hits, triples, and stolen bases and was second on the team in doubles and home runs.

Phillips received a four-year, $27 million contract extension on February 15, 2008, instead of going to arbitration.^[6]

Phillips signing autographs in 2008.

2008[link]

On April 2, Phillips hit his first home run of the season against the Arizona Diamondbacks. At the end of April, he hit a pinch-hit 9th inning home run against the San Francisco Giants in the 3–1 loss. Two days later, in the April 27 victory over the Giants, he hit two home runs and three RBI. In the first month of the season, Phillips batted .283 with 5 home runs, 13 RBI, and four stolen bases.

To open up July, Phillips had a 3 for 5 game against the Pittsburgh Pirates. In the 6–5 loss, Phillips hit a two-run homer in the bottom of the ninth inning to tie the game and send it into extra innings. On July 5, Phillips drove in Jerry Hairston, Jr. for the game-winning single RBI.

At the All-Star Break, Phillips was batting .287 with 15 home runs, 58 RBI, 18 stolen bases, and 18 doubles. Shortly after the All-Star Game, Phillips hit his 16th home run of the season against the Chicago Cubs and his 17th against the New York Mets.

To open August, Phillips hit triples in back-to-back games against the Milwaukee Brewers and the Houston Astros, then finished the three-game stint with a home run in the third game against the Astros. He opened the following series against the Pittsburgh Pirates with a two-run homer. Then, Phillips closed out the next series against the St. Louis Cardinals with home runs in back-to-back games to reach his 20th of the season. The final game of the series marked the second consecutive season that he had joined the 20–20 club.

Phillips also won his first gold glove in 2008, leading National League 2nd basemen with a .990 fielding percentage having made just 7 errors in 706 chances,^[1] in addition to a 78-game error-less streak.^[7] He also won a Fielding Bible Award as the top fielding second baseman in MLB.^[8]

2009[link]

Phillips batting for the Reds in 2009.

In 2009, Phillips hit .276, with 30 doubles, 20 home runs, 98 RBI and 25 stolen bases.

2010[link]

In 2010, Phillips had his first All-Star season. He finished the season batting .275, with 18 homers, 59 RBI and 16 stolen bases.

In early August, Phillips made national sports headlines with unflattering remarks about the St. Louis Cardinals, a team the Reds were in a hotly contested race with for lead in the National League Central division. Phillips was quoted in a Dayton, Ohio newspaper as saying "I hate the Cardinals. All they do is bitch and moan about everything, all of them, they're little bitches, all of them. I hate the Cardinals."^[9] The next night, August 10, Phillips was involved in a large bench-clearing brawl between the Reds and Cardinals at home plate. Coming to bat in the bottom of the 1st inning, Phillips customarily tapped his bat against the shin pads of Cardinals catcher Yadier Molina and the umpire. Molina kicked Phillips bat which led to seven minutes of pushing and shoving between both teams before both team managers were ejected and order restored.

On November 10, 2010, it was announced that Phillips had won the second Gold Glove of his major league career.

2011[link]

On May 3, against the Houston Astros, Phillips had an amazing play in which he threw out speedy Jason Bourgeois by picking up the ball barehanded as it rolled to him and throwing it to first baseman Joey Votto between his legs to record the out.^[10] On July 1, Phillips hit 2 home runs against the Cleveland Indians, the 2nd homer being his 1,000th career hit. After several great plays in the field earned him notoriety around the country and his average stayed around .300 the whole first half, Phillips made his second straight All-Star game. He was in first place in voting for most of the year until Milwaukee's Rickie Weeks passed him, getting the starting nod.

On July 15, 2011 Phillips hit a two out two run walk-off home run in the bottom of the ninth inning to beat the St. Louis Cardinals 6–5 at Great American Ballpark.

On November 1, 2011, it was announced that Phillips had won the third Gold Glove of his major league career. His fielding percentage for the season was .992 in 721 chances.^[11] On November 2, 2011, it was announced that Phillips had won the first Silver Slugger of his major league career. He hit an even .300 with 183 hits, 38 doubles, 2 triples, 18 homers, and 82 RBI. His on-base percentage was .353.^[11]

2012[link]

On April 10, 2012, it was announced that Phillips and the Reds had agreed to a 6 year, $72.5 million contract, through the 2017 season.^[12]

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Brandon Phillips

• Career statistics and player information from MLB, or ESPN, or Baseball-Reference, or Fangraphs, or The Baseball Cube, or Baseball-Reference (Minors)
• Brandon Phillips on Twitter

Brandon Jennings

Jennings with the Bucks
No. 3 – Milwaukee Bucks
Point guard
Personal information
Born	(1989-09-23) September 23, 1989 (age 22) Compton, California
Nationality	American
High school	Dominguez HS (Compton, California) Oak Hill Academy (Mouth of Wilson, Virginia)
Listed height	6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)
Listed weight	169 lb (77 kg)
Career information
NBA Draft	2009 / Round: 1 / Pick: 10th overall
Selected by the Milwaukee Bucks
Pro career	2008–present
Career history
2008–2009	Lottomatica Roma (Italy)
2009–present	Milwaukee Bucks
Career highlights and awards
NBA All-Rookie First Team (2010) Naismith Prep Player of the Year (2008)

Brandon Jennings (born September 23, 1989) is an American professional basketball player for the Milwaukee Bucks of the National Basketball Association (NBA) who plays at point guard.

Jennings was a highly acclaimed high school player, averaging 32.7 points and 7.4 assists as a senior, and won all major player of the year awards in his senior year. After graduating from Oak Hill Academy, he decided to play professional basketball with the Italian club Lottomatica Roma instead of playing collegiately for the University of Arizona Wildcats, leading to controversy and debate on the NBA's "prep-to-pro" policy adopted in 2006. After a year in Italy, Jennings declared for the 2009 NBA Draft and was selected 10th overall by the Bucks.

Early life[link]

Brandon Jennings was born to Alice Knox. He has a brother named Terrence Phillips.^[1]

High school[link]

Jennings attended Dominguez High School in Compton, California for his freshman and sophomore year. Before his junior year, Jennings transferred to powerhouse Oak Hill Academy in Mouth of Wilson, Virginia. In his last year of high school, Jennings averaged 32.7 points, 7.4 assists, and 5.1 rebounds per game^[2] and set the school record for points in a season. 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 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.^[3] He was rated as the nation's #1 high school basketball prospect in the class of 2008 by Scout.com,^[4] the #1 prospect in the ESPNU 150,^[5] and the #4 prospect by Rivals.com.^[6]

College plans[link]

In August 2006, he chose to attend USC. On April 24, 2007, he decided instead to join the University of 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.)^[7] 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).^[8][9]

In June 2008, Jennings attended the premiere of Beastie Boys' Adam Yauch's basketball movie Gunnin' For That #1 Spot at the Magic Johnson Theater in Harlem. Also attending were Kevin Love, Lance Stephenson, Brook Lopez, Robin Lopez, DJ Augustin, and Adam Yauch. The film follows eight top high school players—including Jennings—from their hometowns to NYC, for the 2006 Elite 24 at Rucker Park.

In June 2008, Jennings announced that he was considering becoming the first American to skip college to play professionally in Europe. 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.^[10]

Italian career[link]

On July 16, 2008, Jennings signed with Lottomatica Roma of the Italian Lega A.^[11] The contract he signed with Roma was for $1.65 million net income guaranteed^[12] and after earning the contract with Lottomatica, Under Armour gave Jennings a $2 million contract^[13] to showcase their products in the Euroleague. Jennings was the first player to play for a European team rather than play for a college basketball team since the NBA's age restriction rule was implemented.

In the Italian Lega 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 Lega A play.^[14] 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.^[15]

NBA career[link]

2009 NBA Draft[link]

Jennings during a game against the Detroit Pistons.