Charlie Villanueva

Detroit Pistons  – No. 31
Power forward
Born	August 24, 1984 (1984-08-24) (age 25) Queens, New York
Nationality	American
Listed height	6 ft 11 in (2.11 m)
Listed weight	240 lb (109 kg)
League	NBA
College	UConn
Draft	7th overall, 2005 Toronto Raptors
Pro career	2005–present
Former teams	Toronto Raptors (2005–2006) Milwaukee Bucks (2006–2009)
Awards	NBA All-Rookie First Team
Profile	Info Page

Charlie Alexander Villanueva (born August 24, 1984 in Queens, New York City) is an American National Basketball Association (NBA) player who currently plays for the Detroit Pistons.^[1]

The son of Dominican immigrants Roberto Villanueva and Doris Mejía, Villanueva was raised in Elmhurst, Queens, New York. He was drafted at the age of 20, seventh overall (lottery selection), in the 2005 NBA Draft by the Toronto Raptors.

High school

During his freshman year, Villanueva attended Newtown High School in Queens, New York, where he was a teammate of future NBA player Smush Parker. He spent his next three years at Blair Academy in Blairstown, New Jersey, where he played with another future NBA player, Luol Deng. Villanueva received All-American honors as a senior and was named New Jersey Co-Player of the Year. He entered the 2003 NBA Draft, but withdrew his eligibility so he could play basketball at the University of Connecticut.^[2]

College career

Villanueva originally gave a verbal commitment to play for the University of Illinois, but after Bill Self left the Illini for the University of Kansas, Villanueva withdrew his commitment. He considered following Self to the Jayhawks, but instead opted to play for University of Connecticut.^[3]

In his freshman year at UConn, Villanueva earned Big East All-Rookie Team honors and was a key reserve member of the 2004 NCAA National Championship team. As a sophomore at UConn, he averaged 13.6 points and 8.3 rebounds, leading the team in scoring and receiving team MVP and Second Team All-Big East honors. Villanueva elected to enter the 2005 NBA Draft after two years at UConn.^[2]

NBA career

The Toronto Raptors were widely criticized for selecting Villanueva seventh overall in the 2005 NBA Draft^[4], but he responded with a solid rookie campaign. He averaged 13 points and 6.4 rebounds in 81 games. He finished second among rookies in points and rebounds, and third in minutes and blocked shots. He also tallied 12 double-doubles and set the Raptors' rookie records for points (48) and rebounds (18) in a game. Villanueva also appeared in the T-Mobile Rookie Challenge and was named to the All-NBA Rookie First Team.^[2]

Villanueva was traded to the Milwaukee Bucks for point guard T. J. Ford and cash considerations on June 30, 2006.

In March 2009 he was reprimanded by Bucks coach Scott Skiles for posting a message on his Twitter account during halftime of the Bucks–Celtics game.^[5].

In 2009 when Michael Redd the star of the Milwaukee Bucks went down with an injury causing him to tear his ACL and MCL during a match in January vs the Sacramento Kings^[6] they had no primary scoring option. As the season progressed Villanueva started to put up better statistics, and by the end of the year he was averaging a career high in points and rebounds (16.2 and 6.7 respectively)^[7][8].

In June 2009, Villanueva signed a five year contract with the Pistons worth $35 million. ^[9]

Personal

Villanueva has alopecia universalis, a variation of alopecia areata, an autoimmune skin disease. This results in hair loss on the scalp and/or elsewhere on the body, but the disease is not otherwise life-threatening or harmful. Villanueva is a spokesman for the NAAF (National Alopecia Areata Foundation),^[2] and received the February 2006 Community Assist Award from the NBA for his work with the organization.^[10]

Villanueva is fluent in Spanish, as it is the language he speaks with his family.

Honors

• Mar 2003 – New Jersey State High School Co-Player of the Year, shared with Luol Deng
• Mar 2003 – New Jersey High School All-State Team Honor Selection
• Mar 2003 – McDonald's High School All-American
• Mar 2004 – Big East Conference All-Rookie Team
• Apr 2004 – NCAA National Championship, UConn Huskies
• Jul 2004 – USA Junior World Basketball Team Gold Medalist
• Mar 2005 – Big East All-Conference Second Team
• Jun 2005 – NBA Draft Lottery Seventh Pick
• Oct 2005 – Toronto Raptors Community MVP Award
• Nov 2005 – Toronto Raptors Community MVP Award
• Dec 2005 – Named NBA Eastern Conference Rookie of the Month
• Feb 2006 – Selected to compete in the 2006 T-Mobile NBA All-Star Rookie Challenge in Houston
• Feb 2006 – NBA Cares Community Assist Award
• Mar 2006 – Toronto Raptors Franchise Rookie Record: Single-Game 48 Points
• Apr 2006 – Toronto Raptors Franchise Rookie Record: Single-Game 18 Rebounds
• May 2006 – NBA Rookie of the Year Runner Up, behind Chris Paul
• May 2006 – NBA All-Rookie First Team Honors
• Aug 2008 – NBA Cares Community Assist Award
• Sep 2008 - Latin Pride National Awards Outstanding Athlete

Trivia

• His idol growing up was Reggie Miller. He wears #31 as a tribute to Miller, who retired after the 2004-05 season.^[2]

NBA career statistics

Regular season

References

External links

• Charlie Villanueva Info Page at NBA.com

• Charlie Villanueva Statistics at Basketball-Reference.com
• Official Website of Charlie Villanueva @ cv31.com
• Charlie Villanueva on Twitter