Blair Basketball In the News

Boarding school boarder
Schools drool over Dominican KG-clone Villanueva

Posted: Wednesday July 10, 2002 5:50 PM
www.sportsillustrated.cnn.com

Instead of the city, Villanueva found himself in the country, quite a shock for a kid born and raised on the streets of New York. Instead of getting lost in a mass of humanity at a public high school, Villanueva stood out in Blair’s 400-student boarding program.

Villanueva was by no means a problem child. The move was made simply to help him further his dreams.

“Blair has helped a lot grade-wise and basketball-wise,” the 17-year-old said Wednesday at adidas ABCD Camp. “It’s a great place to be out there, where I can be more focused on my studies and my basketball skills.”

Less than a year from now, Villanueva hopes to have taken another step in his journey, one that will have brought him straight to the NBA. Other than consensus top player LeBron James, the 6-foot-10, 215-pound Villanueva may have the most complete set of skills in the class of 2002. He can operate in the post. He has 3-point range. He can bring the ball up and beat his defender off the dribble. He sees the floor well. He rebounds. He explodes to the basket. In short, there isn’t anything he can’t do with the ball in his hands.

Villanueva is a combo forward in the mold of Shareef Abdur-Rahim, a player who eventually will be a 3 at the next level. Though they have slightly different body types, a lot of Villanueva’s movements are reminiscient of (gulp) Kevin Garnett, another long, multi-talented performer.

That’s why talk of the NBA Draft has accelerated.

“I think Charlie can live the dream, but he’d better not try to live it until he is ready to go,” said longtime Bayside (N.Y.) Cardozo coach Ron Naclerio, who has known Villanueva since the latter ” was 5-1.”

The knock on Villanueva is that he doesn’t always play hard, something said about many of the more highly rated players here. The unfailingly polite Villanueva – on Tuesday he helped a reporter get by a metal barricade; on Wednesday he dropped everything he was carrying to sign an autograph for a youngster – takes the criticism in stride.

“They’re the coaches, so I just listen,” said Villanueva, whose parents both were born in the Dominican Republic.” That’s motivation. I just have to keep playing ball.

“I think I need to work on a lot of stuff, but if they say I’m a lottery pick, I’m gonna take it. If I’m not projected in the lottery, I’ll go to college.”

A handful of coaches are crossing their fingers. Villanueva’s five finalists are Seton Hall, St. John’s, Villanova, Illinois and UCLA. Even if he goes, however, he said that he would only stay as long as it took to establish himself in the draft.

“I’ve been wanting this [attention] all my life, so I like it,” said Villanueva, who is fluent in Spanish and whose family now lives in the East New York section of Brooklyn.. “But I don’t let it get to my head.”

At Blair – which Villanueva first became aware of through one of Naclerio’s former players, Texas junior Royal Ivey – Villanueva teams with fellow top-five rising senior forward Luol Deng to form perhaps the best 1-2 punch in high school history. The two roomed together during Villanueva’s first year at Blair and taught each other much about life growing up in vastly different circumstances (Deng is from Sudan, via London).

Having been exposed to multiple environments no doubt will help Villanueva’s transition to life as a professional basketball player. The question, then, is whether he is mentally ready to make that jump next year.

“I can’t answer that yet, until the guy is there with all the money,” Naclerio said. “But he’s matured a hell of a lot in the last year or two.”

Sooner rather than later, Villanueva may have to call on that maturity to help him navigate another long journey.

“That will be like a dream come true if I do make it,” he said.

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