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Josiah Turner headed to Europe

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Josiah Turner has found a landing spot.

Instead of heading to the D-League, the former Arizona guard -- who spent some time this summer considering a move to SMU -- is heading to Hungary:

Source: Ex-Arizona guard Josiah Turner has signed with a pro team in Hungary and will play there next season.

— Jeff Eisenberg (@JeffEisenberg) August 21, 2012


Eisenberg was actually scooped yesterday by Turner himself.

This is the latest step in what has been a tumultuous career for Turner, who entered Arizona with a reputation and exited without changing a single opinion of him. He was suspended and benched throughout the season before being kicked off the team and, eventually, arrested for extreme DUI in April.

This is what I said about Turner’s decision to turn pro back in July:

Frankly, turning professional may be the best move for Turner’s career. If a kid has issues with focus and dedication off the court, the last thing you want to do is to take basketball away from him. Would he have made it through an entire summer, an entire school year as a redshirt and then a whole ‘nother summer without getting in trouble?

Turner doesn’t need an education as much as he needs to grow up.


That was under the assumption that he was going to the D-League. Europe is a different story. On the one hand, it will be easy to get him away from the people that might steer him towards bad decisions. But on the other hand, Americans make a good amount of money overseas. Giving a 19 year old unfiltered access to that kind of cash -- especially a 19 year old that has issues with weed and alcohol -- is a risk.

Hopefully, this is the first step on Turner’s path towards redemption, and not another twist in yet another cautionary tale.

Rob Dauster is the editor of the college basketball website Ballin’ is a Habit. You can find him on twitter @robdauster.