Charlie Villanueva life and biography

Charlie Villanueva is an American basketball player who currently plays for the Detroit Pistons of the NBA.

The son of Dominican immigrants, Villanueva was raised in Elmhurst, Queens, New York. He was drafted at the age of 20, seventh overall pick, in the 2005 NBA Draft by the Toronto Raptors. He also holds Dominican citizenship and therefore he has represented the Dominican Republic national basketball team in international competition.

Career history:

2005–2006 Toronto Raptors
2006–2009 Milwaukee Bucks
2009–present Detroit Pistons

CAREER:

Selected after sophomore year by Toronto in first round of 2005 NBA Draft (#7 overall).

Traded by Raptors along with cash considerations to Milwaukee in exchange for T.J. Ford (6/30/06)…Signed with Detroit as a free agent (7/8/09)

Named NBA Rookie of the Month (December 2005)…Earned NBA All-Rookie First Team honors in 2006.

In 352 career NBA games has averages of 13.1 points on .449 (1,819-4,053 FG) shooting with 6.0 rebounds and 1.1 assists in 25.9 minutes per game…Scored 48 points at Milwaukee as rookie, the most since 1997 [Allen Iverson, 50 at Cleveland (4/12/97)] and tied for the third-highest total since the NBA-ABA merger in 1976-77 (Michael Jordan).

2009-10 (Detroit):
Appeared in 78 games (16 starts) averaging 11.9 points (.439 FG, career-high .351 3FG), 4.7 rebounds, 0.7 assists and 0.71 blocks in 23.7 minutes per game…Started the first 16 games of the season and averaged 15.6 points (.469 FG, .328 3FG) and 5.7 rebounds in 29.1 minutes per game…Averaged 11.0 points (.428 FG, .358 3FG), 4.4 rebounds and 22.3 minutes per game in 62 games off the bench…Led the team in scoring eight times, rebounds six times and assists twice…Tallied 10-plus points 50 times, 20-plus points eight times and 30-plus points once…Grabbed 10-plus rebounds twice and recorded two double-doubles…Made a team-high and single-season career-high 99 three-point field goals, connecting on 50% or better of his three-point attempts in 27 of 78 games he played…Made 4-plus three-point field goals five times (Pistons 4-1 in those games)…Recorded a single-season career-high 282 three-point field goal attempts…Scored a season-high 30 points (season-high 13 field goals made) in 31 minutes vs. Charlotte (11/11)…Scored 28 points (22 in the fourth quarter) at Orlando (11/6)… Grabbed a season-high 10 rebounds twice [vs. Dallas (11/15) and vs. New York (1/16)]…Dished out a season-high five assists twice [vs. Washington (12/6) and vs. Denver (12/10)]…Averaged 14.3 points (.490 FG, .387 3FG) in wins (27) compared to 10.7 points (.410 FG, .330 3FG) in losses (51)…Averaged 16.8 points on 48.5% shooting from the field in 14 games during November – his best offensive month of the season…Tallied a season-high three blocks four times [at Memphis (10/28), at Utah (11/21), vs. Memphis (1/27) and at Sacramento (2/23)]…Missed two games with back spasms (1/31 and 2/5) and one game with a nasal fracture (12/2)…DNP-CD once vs. Miami (3/31).

COLLEGE:

Played two seasons at the University of Connecticut (2003-2005)…Originally was an early candidate for the 2003 NBA Draft before withdrawing his name and attending UConn for two seasons…Averaged 13.6 points, 8.3 rebounds, 1.80 blocks and starting in all 31 games as a senior…Named All-Big East Second Team that season while posting averages of 19.0 points and 9.5 rebounds in two NCAA tournament games…As a freshman, was declared eligible by the NCAA on 12/5/03 after being withheld from competition through the exhibition season and six regular season games while UConn and the NCAA reviewed his eligibility status…Became one of the top reserves for the Huskies’ second national championship team in 2004…Selected to the Big East All-Rookie Team…Started the first two games of the Big East Tournament in place of Emeka Okafor and averaged 10.0 points and 9.5 rebounds as a freshman.

PERSONAL:

Son of Roberto Villanueva and Doris Mejia…Is a first-generation American Latino (his parents are from the Dominican Republic)…Suffers from Alopecia Areata, an autoimmune skin disease resulting in hair loss…The disease is relatively common, affects four million Americans and is not life threatening…He is the spokesperson for the National Alopecia Areata Foundation…Won the NBA’s Community Assist Award in February 2006 for his work with the “Charlie’s Angels on the Road” program, which conducts pre-game meet and greets in visiting NBA arenas with people affected by Alopecia Areata…Started the Charlie Villanueva Foundation (CVF) which serves as a non-profit organization dedicated to eliminating bullying by supporting organizations that maintain programs that provide guidance in creating non-violent solutions to challenges and problems associated with bullying… Loves to play ping-pong and softball…Was a high school teammate of Luol Deng of the Chicago Bulls….Is fluent in Spanish (speaks it primarily with his family)…Nicknames include “Charlie V”, “CV”, “CV31”, “Big Smooth”, “Skillanueva” and “Versatile Villanueva”…Says his mom had the biggest influence on him growing up.

Read more