By Jonathan Sanfilippo
Staff Reporter
Finding Milwaukee Bucks forward Charlie Villanueva at the Korea Development Camp is easy.
All you have to do is look for the tallest person in the gym.
Villanueva, who at 2.11 meters towers over everyone else at the camp, and Bucks point guard Mo Williams are honored guests at the event, which started Friday and lasts until Tuesday at the Yangjae Education and Culture Center in Seoul.
The two National Basketball Association (NBA) players are there to teach basketball and leadership skills to 40 of South Korea's best players between the ages of 16 and 19.
``(The camp organizers) just called the agent that I work for and told me that it was an opportunity to go to Korea,'' Villanueva said. ``I was quick to respond and say `yes' because I'd never been to Korea and I had heard a lot of good things about it.''
Villanueva, a 23-year-old who's averaged 12.3 points and 6.2 rebounds per game in his three NBA seasons, should have plenty of basketball knowledge to share, considering his background in the sport.
Born in New York, Villanueva began playing the game at a young age and was able to dunk the ball for the first time when he was 12.
After enjoying a stellar high school career at Blair Academy in Blairstown Township, N.J., where he was a teammate of Chicago Bulls forward Luol Deng, Villanueva went on to play for the University of Connecticut (UConn).
In his first season at Connecticut, he helped the Huskies win the 2004 National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) championship. The next year, he emerged as one of the team's top players, making the All-Big East Conference second team.
``It prepared me tremendously, playing under a coach like (Jim) Calhoun, who's a hall of fame coach,'' Villanueva said of playing for UConn. ``He definitely taught me how to work hard and how to play at the next level. He prepared me for the NBA.''
Villanueva left college after two seasons to enter the 2005 NBA draft, where he was selected with the seventh overall pick by the Toronto Raptors.