<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">With another year at UConn, he could start next season as a lottery pick and work his way up. Of the previous UConn underclassmen who entered early, only El-Amin was not a lottery pick. There are 14 NBA teams in the lottery. Villanueva is projected to be about the 20th player taken in the draft this year. But what if he slips to the second round and does not get a guaranteed contract? What would Villanueva's mind-set be? Would he bring the intensity and work ethic needed to stick with a team? These just happen to be two of the areas in which Villanueva has struggled to be consistent in his two years at UConn. Throw in the fact his defense is suspect at times. These are all detriments that could be wiped away with another year at UConn. He'd be the featured guy, probably the front-runner for Big East player of the year and possibly a preseason All-America pick in what will be an exciting year for a conference expanding to 16 teams. Throw in a little more time to get stronger and, wow, what a year it could be for Villanueva. It could be. But it won't be. He's outta here. "Believe me, I thought about all of that," Villanueva said. "When I talked to Coach last week, we talked about it, too. And like I said before, if I could do the college thing I would do it forever, but an opportunity came where I couldn't turn it down. I feel 100 percent confident in my decision. I really don't pay too much attention to the criticism. I know what I need to do. I need to work hard and be in that gym. I have to take more of a serious approach because this is a game, but it's also a business. ... I have to give it my all." Calhoun said there is no doubt in his mind that Villanueva will be a better pro than he was a college player because there aren't many players with guard-like skills at 6 feet 11 in the NBA. But, Calhoun said more than a couple of times that Villanueva was going to have to work. And that work is going to be work like Villanueva has never seen before. Keep in mind, too, that he considered jumping to the NBA after prep school two years ago. But his workouts weren't great, which led him to UConn, where he won a national championship as a freshman.</div> Source
