MILWAUKEE — Milwaukee Bucks general manager John Hammond is not sure if the unusual path to the NBA taken by point guard Brandon Jennings, the team’s first-round draft pick, will spur other high school players to take the same route.

Jennings, 19, elected to bypass college and spent the past year playing professional basketball in Europe.

“I don’t really think it’s going to be a new wave,” Hammond said. “It might be another option for some guys. Especially in (Jennings’) situation now, the fact he did go (to Europe for) one year, is a top-10 pick, especially if he has success somewhat quickly in his NBA career, I think a lot of people would say, ‘He did it. Why can’t I?’’’

Whether other high school players follow suit, the Bucks couldn’t be happier with how the experience should prepare Jennings for his rookie season in the NBA.

“I really think for what we could potentially be asking him to do, that’s come in and play ... possibly right away, it was probably a good route for him,” Hammond said.

“He’s in the gym a couple times a day in Europe. It’s nothing for them to practice twice a day, play a full schedule. ... Being around an environment like he was, around professional players, I think he had some very good mentors over there.”

Actually, Jennings has been on a three-year basketball odyssey. He attended high school for two years in Compton, Calif., before traveling across the country and attending prep powerhouse Oak Hill Academy in Mouth of Wilson, Va., for his final two years of high school.

“That’s one of the things that really impressed me in visiting with him,” Hammond said. “He talked about what he’s done in his lifetime already as a basketball player. He said, ‘I’ve been away from home for three years.’

“I think this kid has a very mature side to him, presents himself that way. I think there’s a perception about who and what he is. As people had a chance to get to meet him through this draft process, they found out he’s a very interesting guy, a very mature guy and a guy who has a lot of things going for him.”

Jennings signed with Arizona out of high school but never qualified academically. There were questions about his ACT score. But he said on Thursday, the day of the draft, he never received his ACT score back.

He became the first high school player to get around the NBA draft rule, which requires players be 19 years old and one year removed from high school, by going to Europe.

As a result, his decision received national attention and didn’t always cast Jennings in a favorable light. To make matters worse, his playing time in Europe was limited and he seldom got a chance to play point guard.

In 27 Italian League games, playing for Lottomatica Virtus Roma, he averaged 5.5 points and 2.3 assists in 17 minutes. He also played in 16 Euroleague games.

But even in those toughest of circumstances, the Bucks were impressed with how Jennings handled himself.

“I will say his teammates there were very fond of him,” Bucks coach Scott Skiles said. “You’ve got an American coming over with a lot of publicity, playing on a grown man’s team, they could have been jealous. The fact they were fond of him and respected his work ethic and so forth, means, in some way, he was leading.

“I’ve played and coached in Europe. If you can garner the respect of those people, with a fair amount of skepticism they might have of a young American kid, you’re doing something right.”

Alice Knox, Jennings’ mother, and his 13-year-old brother Terrence stayed with him in Italy. They were about 70 miles from the April 6 earthquake in central Italy that killed nearly 300 people and left 50,000 homeless. Jennings, who signed a $1.2 million contract, donated $50,000 to a relief fund.

“I felt the earthquake,” he said. “My mom was going around the house screaming and yelling and waking us all up at 3 o’clock in the morning, freaking out.

“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.”

Unlike some other recent Bucks acquisitions, Jennings has embraced Milwaukee. After all he has been through the past three years, this city doesn’t seem too bad.

“I’m really happy with the decision,” he said of landing with the Bucks. “Milwaukee is not a bad city like everybody says it is. ... I’m just ready to get this party started.”

Point guard was the best position in this year’s draft, with five point guards selected in the first 10 picks. Hammond thinks Jennings could turn out to be the best of the lot.

“We had a real fear on this guy,” Hammond said. “The fear was we don’t take him, because we really thought in watching him, he had the chance to be, maybe, the most special of all of them. It just scared us to death, every time we mentioned his name and the thought of not taking him.”