McDonald’s All-American forward Charlie Villanueva either will be playing in the NBA or at the University of Connecticut next season.
The 6-foot-10 standout from Brooklyn, N.Y., who has entered his name in the 2003 NBA draft, Sunday orally committed to Jim Calhoun’s UConn program over Kansas University.
“Charlie said turning down Kansas was one of the hardest things he’s ever had to do,” Villanueva’s AAU coach, Gary Charles of the Long Island Panthers, said Sunday after Villanueva informed him of his college choice.
“But at the end of the day, it was harder for him to say no to his family. The bottom line is he wanted to be near his family.”
Storrs, Conn., is a 2-hour, 15-minute drive from Villanueva’s home. The Huskies annually play games at St. John’s, Rutgers and Seton Hall, all close to Brooklyn.
“Kansas did a great job recruiting Charlie,” Charles said. “His relationship with the coaches is why he decided to take a visit to Kansas in the first place.”
Villanueva orally committed to Bill Self’s University of Illinois team in November, but did not sign a letter of intent with the Illini. He crossed Illinois off his list, replacing the Illini with the Jayhawks in April after Self accepted the coaching job at KU.
Villanueva, who is working out in Florida in front of NBA scouts, has until June 19 to pull his name out of the draft if he wants to attend college.
“Unless he’s told it doesn’t look good for the first round, he will put every effort into playing in the NBA next season,” Charles said.
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Big 12 meetings lineup: KU senior associate athletic director Richard Konzem will represent the Jayhawks as AD at the Big 12 Conference meetings Wednesday through Friday in Colorado Springs, Colo. Also representing KU will be Don Green, KU’s faculty representative to the conference, and Janelle Martin, senior women’s administrator.
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Recruiting updates: Kalen Grimes, a 6-8, 265-pound senior-to-be from Florissant, Mo., has narrowed his college choices to KU, Missouri and Illinois.
“Kansas is still my favorite and it will be tough for the other schools to catch-up with them,” Grimes told Shay Wildeboor of rivalshoops.com.
Sean Singletary, 5-11 from Philadelphia, told rivals.com he will visit KU and Virginia, his two leaders, this summer.
Kris Humphries, 6-8 from Minnetonka, Minn., who recently asked out of his letter-of-intent with Duke, visited Indiana last week and will visit Iowa State this week. Charlie Walters of the Saint Paul (Minn.) Pioneer Press says Humphries is expected to commit to Minnesota within three weeks. He had signed with Duke over Kansas in November.
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Padgett’s dad gives up coaching: Pete Padgett, father of KU signee David Padgett, has resigned his coaching position at Reno (Nev.) High. Pete, who will remain dean of students at Reno High, wants to be able to attend several games of his son and daughter, Melissa, a senior at the University of San Diego.
So far, he’s only been able to attend 10 of Melissa’s college games.
“I’m going to miss it (coaching),” Padgett told the Reno Gazette Journal. “I’m not burned out. I’m not any of those things. I simply want to sit back and see what direction their (Melissa’s and David’s) careers will take. I haven’t been able to do that.”
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KU could join Classic field: There is a chance KU will be hosting a pair of games in the season-opening Guardians Classic this fall.
For that to happen, however, a federal judge must approve a request by a group of tournament promoters June 16. The promoters are seeking to block an NCAA restriction limiting Division One teams to two exempt tournament appearances in a four-year period.
Several promoters have filed suit, asking the court to return to the former system, which allowed teams like KU to play in an exempt tournament every year.
KU, which competed in the Maui Invitational and Preseason NIT the past two years, would be ineligible to appear in the Guardians Classic in November without the judge blocking the NCAA rule.
The Guardians Classic last year consisted of eight teams. Four teams gathered at Notre Dame and four teams at Creighton with the top two teams at each site playing a championship round at Kansas City’s Municipal Auditorium.
This year’s tourney field has not been assembled because of the impending court date.
