TRENTON – Charlie Villanueva is clueless.
At least that’s what he says.
“I have no idea what I’m going to do next year,” said the 6-foot-10 Villanueva, who is starring at Blair Academy in Blair Township, N.J. “I am clueless.”
The 19-year-old has some enviable options. The Elmhurst native committed to Illinois last fall, but made it clear he wanted to become the first New York City product to leap from high school to the NBA. As of yesterday, that hadn’t changed.
“I still want to get to the promised land,” Villanueva said after scoring 19 points in Blair’s 67-64 win over Mount Zion yesterday at the Prime Time Shootout here. “But I have to make sure it’s the right thing.”
In the midst of the LeBron James madness Saturday night, NBA scouts gave differing opinions of the lanky star.
“The amount of development that he’s undergone in the last couple of years is amazing,” one scout said of Villanueva, who is expected to be named a McDonald’s All-American and who, according to sources, has already been selected for the team. “It’s just a matter of whether you think that development is going to continue.”
Another was somewhat more hesitant.
“I need to see more from him before I’m confident he’d definitely be a mid first-rounder,” he said. “I don’t think he’s there yet.”
Villanueva isn’t too worried about those opinions.
“Nobody is ever ready right when they come out,” said Villanueva, who began his high school career at Newtown. “Kobe [Bryant] and Tracy [McGrady] weren’t ready for the first two or three years, but then they come around.”
James filled the arena Saturday, Villanueva didn’t come close, and he isn’t even the best player on his team. That honor belongs to Duke-bound senior Luol Deng.
“He told me to go to college,” Villanueva said of his teammate, considered the second-best senior in the nation. “But everyone has to make their own decision.”
While it may sound as if Villanueva has made up his mind, he insists that he hasn’t, and won’t until after the Roundball Classic in Chicago March 31.
“I talk to the coaches at Illinois twice a week and it is awkward,” Villanueva said. “They want me to do well, but if I do really well, I probably won’t go there.”
But unless his senior season ends in disaster, you can expect him to try to get to the NBA very soon.
“It would be an honor to be the first city player to do it,” Villanueva said. “I hope it’s me.”