Northwestern coach Bill Carmody has been fortunate not to have his three Croatian players — Vedran Vukusic, Davor Duvancic and Ivan Tolic — cave into the temptations of leaving school early to return home and to play in the European professional leagues.

But Penn State coach Ed DeChellis was not so lucky. When the Nittany Lions face the Wildcats on Saturday in Welsh-Ryan Arena, DeChellis will be without his leading scorer from last season.

Jan Jagla decided to leave the Nittany Lions following his junior season and is now playing professionally in his native country of Germany.

The prospect of being able to play professionally close to home in a familiar style of basketball is too appealing to turn down for many European players.

Across the conference, Big Ten coaches are losing players to the European professional leagues, which offer lucrative contracts and an alternative route to the NBA.

“I think young guys will continue to leave,” DeChellis said. “The NBA has gotten so involved with European basketball. It’s a huge feeding ground. Basketball is becoming more popular in Europe every year, which means they’re paying kids more money and the exposure is greater.”

Indiana coach Mike Davis also lost a player to a European league before the season. Incoming freshman Robert Rothbart, a 7-foot center from Yugoslavia, initially declared for the NBA draft after signing with the Hoosiers but then pulled his name out of consideration and settled for playing in Europe.

Davis said he thinks the European leagues will continue to have more and more of a pull on foreign college players to play for money and have an opportunity to showcase themselves for NBA scouts in a different system.

“Any time you bring a kid over here from overseas, you’re taking a chance of him going back and playing over there,” Davis said.

Davis, who played professionally in Europe, said the newfound propensity of NBA teams drafting European prospects also lures players overseas.

“It’s out of control,” Davis said. “It’s way out of control.”

In Jagla’s case, college basketball never suited the 6-foot-10 forward, and he never made a complete transition to living and playing in America, former Penn State teammate Aaron Johnson said.

“I just wish Jan was a little tougher because that man could have been a great college basketball player,” Johnson said. “I just think mentally, he was all out of balance.

“It’s not anything like he’s schizophrenic or something. He just lets things bother him. People get in his head. … He just couldn’t take it.”

With American basketball generally being more physical, European players sometimes have a difficult transition to make on the court as well as adjusting to life in a new country.

Because he was not physically built to withstand the punishments of playing in the post, Jagla primarily was a perimeter player who often settled for outside shots and 3-pointers.

But in Europe, where the style of basketball is much more fluid with less physical pounding, Jagla can play his more natural position of power forward.

“He grew up and is used to European basketball,” Johnson said. “In that European style, he’s going to do well over there.”

In his freshman season at Penn State, Jagla started 19 games and averaged 7.4 points and 5.8 rebounds per game in nearly 25 minutes on the floor.

By his sophomore campaign, he had upped his scoring average to 9.3 points per game and was averaging nearly seven rebounds per game.

Then in his final season in State College, Pa., Jagla capped off another year with improved numbers. He finished the season with team bests in scoring with 13.4 points per game and rebounds with 7.9 boards per game.

“On his defense, (Jagla) was playing (small forward) … and he’s basically a (power forward or center),” Johnson said. “I just think if he would have been a lot tougher, the refs would have respected him more and his numbers would have been a lot better, even though they were pretty decent last year.”

Although Johnson said he and Jagla never really had a close relationship, Johnson also said he couldn’t be angry with Jagla for his decision.

During Jagla’s decision-making process following the 2003-04 season, Johnson told Jagla to do what was best for him and to look out for his own personal needs.

“He’s making good money overseas now,” Johnson said. “From what I see, he’s made a pretty decent decision. … I’ll probably see him in State College some day with a BMW.”

Reach Zach Silka at [email protected].