Charlie Villanueva has decided to enter his name in the 2003 NBA draft.
Villanueva, a 6-foot-9, 215-pound senior from Blair Academy in Blairstown, N.J., over the weekend mailed and faxed letters to the NBA office indicating his desire to be placed in the June 25 draft.
Villanueva, Rivalshoops.com’s No. 3-rated high school player, will not sign with an agent and will pull his name out of the draft by June 19 if he is not guaranteed to be a first-round pick, said Gary Charles, Villanueva’s AAU coach and close confidant.
Villanueva will attend Kansas University, Connecticut or UCLA for a year or two if ultimately he decides to pull out of the draft, Charles indicated.
“With the new rules, to put your name out there, why not?” Charles said, referring to rules that allow high-school players to test the NBA waters without giving up eligibility in college, as long as they don’t sign with an agent.
“Charlie has always wanted to know what his situation was in regard to the NBA. This is an opportunity for him to gauge where he’s at and see if he should make the move. If he finds out he shouldn’t make the move, he’ll go to college. If he’s not a first-round pick, he’ll go to college.”
Villanueva, who plans to attend NBA camps in upcoming weeks and hold one-on-one workouts for pro teams, would like to make an unofficial visit to UConn as soon as possible — perhaps sometime this week — then orally commit to one of his three finalists.
He will not sign a letter of intent with a school. Wednesday is the last day of the spring signing period.
“He won’t sign any letter. Exactly sign for what?” Charles said. “If he makes a commitment, he’ll show up. As long as a school is willing to accept you coming in, why sign a letter? It’s why he didn’t sign one before. If he’d have signed, he’d have been stuck. It’s one rule the NCAA needs to take a look at closely. If you don’t sign a letter, you are the one in charge.”
Villanueva, of Brooklyn, N.Y., orally committed to the University of Illinois in November, but did not sign a letter of intent, partly because of the NBA uncertainty and partly because he wanted to make sure the coach he committed to (Bill Self) still would be at Illinois if he decided to go there.
Since then, Self has moved on to Kansas, a school Villanueva visited last week.
“He loved it. He loved it,” Charles said of KU. “He said the people really know their basketball there.”
Charles said it worked out well that Kansas and UConn were the player’s top choices.
“Kansas was going to be good with or without Charlie. If they don’t get him, it’s not really hurting them. Same with UConn,” Charles said. “They are a preseason top-two (pick) with or without Charlie. Whichever one he picks or doesn’t pick, they’ll be fine.”
Villanueva may or may not make a statement today about his decision. His brother has promised to post an article on charlievillanueva.org.
“I don’t think it’s necessary,” Charles said of a formal press conference. “It’s not something he’s bragging about doing. He’s making it a workmanlike situation. He’s put his name in for the draft, but still could go to college.”
Experts say Villanueva likely would be drafted either late in the first round or early to the middle of the second round.
Charles said Villanueva would try to impress NBA officials in coming weeks, but also still will lead a normal life.
“Charlie’s situation is different because he’s going to go to prom and graduate and will get a late start (on NBA tryouts),” Charles said. “Those things take precedent. He’s going to do things that high school seniors remember the rest of their lives. After that, he’ll go to NBA places. What we’d like to do is get a group (of NBA scouts) to come to a workout here.”
Charles said the tornado that hit Lawrence last week wouldn’t have any bearing on Villanueva’s decision should he elect to go to college.
“He did mention how he felt sorry for the people it affected,” Charles said. “All he said about Kansas is, he liked it a lot.”
