I had Illinois as a 6-8 ranked team because I thought he was going to stay, but he is going to enter the draft. Looks like Augustine has to be that inside presence now. I think it's a pretty big blow to Illinois. Losing Self then Charlie in the matter of a day. I still think they will be atleast a top 20 team now, but this is going to be tough to recover from. http://espn.go.com/ncb/news/2003/0421/1542082.html <div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">Villanueva intended all along to enter draft -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- By Andy Katz ESPN.com An adviser to Charlie Villanueva, a top-five high school player who had orally committed to Illinois, told ESPN.com on Monday that Villanueva will declare for the NBA draft by May 8. The deadline for college underclassmen, junior-college players and high school seniors to declare is May 12. The adviser said Villanueva, a 6-foot-9 small forward at Blair Academy in New Jersey, would have declared for the NBA even if coach Bill Self had stayed at Illinois instead of leaving for Kansas. Villanueva would pull out of the draft only if he has disastrous workouts for NBA teams, the adviser said. As a high school player, Villanueva would have until June 19 to remove his name from the draft and go to college. Otherwise, the team that drafts him this year would retain his rights whenever he again decides to enter the NBA. College underclassmen lose their remaining eligibility if they are drafted. Villanueva is eligible to be recruited by any college because he never signed a national letter of intent with Illinois. Over the past two days, 14 schools have made contact with Villanueva's adviser, including Kansas and its new coach, Self; UConn; Syracuse; North Carolina; Wake Forest; Georgia Tech; Indiana; and UCLA. The adviser said that if Villanueva decided to go to college, it would be an open race for his recruitment. Illinois would be in the running depending on who it hired as coach. Villanueva, in the meantime, has told different reporters different things about his intentions. He has said that Illinois was his first choice, that the NBA is his first option and that he was still committed to the Illini.</div>
I think Villanueva will be the Amare Stoudemire of the 03 draft. But he probably not going to be picked in the lottery. Late first round or 2nd round probably.
I'm thinking more along the lines of late lottery to mid-first round...after Amare I don't think teams want to risk losing the chance of getting a high profile, top notch, high school player. Though Charlie isn't as physically developed as Amare (can't blame him though because not a lot of older people are either) he can very well be just as athletic and more nimble around the basket.
He should spend a year in college ball. He would be more developed and ready for the rigors of the NBA.
i can understand why someone would want to jump to the NBA early to possibly make millions of dollars and play against the best in the world but i can help thinking that if i was in that situation i would at least wanna experience one year of college ball because isnt that supposed to be the funnest years of your life?
LeBron is really the only guy that should make the jump this year, but the sad thing is that 3-4 other high schoolers are seriously considering going to the NBA...
this guy needs to go to college. i watched him in the mcdonalds game, and he had some great dunks and can definately jump and dunk, but he has no outside game and he has no bulk to bang with NBA players. i'd like to see him go to college for 1 or 2 years, develop a mid-range game and then make an impact in the NBA.
He doesn't play very hard all the time, which is a big negative. He could be a good player but if he doesn't care and just wants money, he will be nothing. I thought he should go to school, a year, maybe two put on muscle and weight, get some low post moves and enter the draft.
Kryzewski probably wouldn't want a player like that. That will take plays on defense off, and if he doesn't get the ball in 2 consecutive plays, get frustrated. His HS teammate, Luol Deng is going to Duke too.
i dont think villeneuva was considering going to duke, and coach k wouldnt want him for the reasons STCBBall3 said
Yeah, he wasn't even considering Duke. Villanueva was a consensus top 10 player. He was as high as 3. He was considering UConn, Kansas, Illiniois, UNC, Indiana, Seton Hall, UCLA and Villanova. He visited all of them except UConn, UCLA and UNC.
