Blair Basketball In the News

Gifted High School Player Is Given Pause

By BRANDON LILLY

HACKENSACK, N.J., July 9 – The Blair Academy senior-to-be Charlie Villanueva is listed at 6 feet 10 inches, has great ball-handling skills for a player his size and has a perimeter game most shooting guards would envy. So why, in this age of prep stars declaring themselves eligible for the N.B.A. draft, is Villanueva not seriously considering jumping straight to the pros?

“You have to know for sure that you are going to be a lottery pick before you can even think about making that kind of decision,” Villanueva, 17, said today at the Adidas ABCD camp at Fairleigh Dickinson University, where some 250 of the best high school players are showing off their skills. “I’m not ruling it out because the N.B.A. is my dream and it would be a fantastic opportunity. But right now I think that I’m going to go to college.”

Villanueva’s odyssey from Newtown High in Queens to Blair Academy in Blairstown, N.J., is the type of journey that is becoming more frequent for the best high school players.

Struggling academically, Villanueva left Newtown after his sophomore year to go to Blair, a boarding school. He wanted to concentrate on academics and get away from the distractions of home. Blairstown is only 80 miles from his home in Brooklyn, but it might as well be a different world. Villanueva struggled to adapt in his first year, but now he thinks he made the right decision.

“That first year was really hard, with me not knowing anybody and being around all these new people,” Villanueva said. “But now I think it was the right move. My grades are up and I am taking an SAT course to try and get the score I need to go to school. It worked out for me both academically and basketball-wise.”

College is his primary focus, but only two years ago, Villanueva’s thinking might have been different.

According to Tom Konchalski, editor of the High School Basketball Insider Report, there are very few players who have Villanueva’s raw skills and athleticism. Today, he was clearly the best player on the court, showing great touch from outside, strong low post moves and rebounding prowess.

But N.B.A. scouts are becoming more wary of high school stars; the four who went straight to the lottery in the 2001 draft struggled this past season. Washington’s Kwame Brown, Chicago’s Tyson Chandler and Eddy Curry and Cleveland’s DeSagana Diop were selected first, second, fourth, and eighth. They combined to average 4.7 points in their rookie seasons.

Of the four high school players who made themselves eligible for last month’s draft, only one, Amare Stoudemire of Orlando, Fla., was picked; he was taken ninth over all by the Phoenix Suns. Villanueva, who attended the draft, took notice.

“You have to get the right information before you decide to make that jump,“ Villanueva said. “I know that I can play with anybody, but a lot of people are saying that you should probably go to college first.”

Most college and N.B.A scouts at the camp believe there are only two high school players who should even consider skipping college to go to the N.B.A.: guard LeBron James of Akron, Ohio, and forward Kendrick Perkins of Beaumont, Tex.

Villanueva is one of the top 10 high school players in the country, but few believe he is ready, physically or emotionally, for the rigors of an 82-game N.B.A. season.

“Anybody who tells me that Charlie is ready to go pro is not thinking straight,” said Ron Naclerio, an editor for HoopScoop Magazine and the head coach of Cardozo High in Queens.

But when asked if what happened in the last draft would deter high school players from jumping to the pros, he shook his head.

“Every kid thinks that they will be different and comes up with reasons why getting passed over won’t happen to them,” Naclerio said. “A couple of years ago, this may have been a slam dunk. Now it’s a crapshoot.”

BACK TO BLAIR BASKETBALL IN THE NEWS

return to top