Villa’s NBA connection

Did you know that Talk ‘N’ Text rookie William Kahi Villa’s brother-in-law is Denver Nuggets assistant coach Jarrin Akana?

Phone Pals assistant coach Ariel Vanguardia said Akana’s sister Sulan is Villa’s wife–they’re blessed with two boys. In fact, Villa plans to join the Nuggets in some workouts after the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) Reinforced Conference ends.

"(Villa) promised me he’ll be the most improved player next season," disclosed Vanguardia.

Villa, 27, was born in Honolulu to parents of Filipino descent. His father William, 50, was born in Ilocos Norte and mother Renae, 48, is a Fil-Am born in Honolulu.

The 6-2, 230-pound forward was a four-year All-State pick at Kamehamcha High School and a first team All-Pacific West Conference selection in two of his four years at Brigham Young University (BYU)-Hawaii. Akana was Villa’s coach at BYU where TNT teammate Asi Taulava also played. In 2001, Villa was voted BYU’s Most Valuable Player.

In 1999, Villa played three months for the South Korean Knights to gain overseas experience in the Korean exhibition league. He wasn’t paid for the stint–it was more like on-the-job training as an apprentice. Korean 6-10 center Seo Jang Hoon is a long-time Knights mainstay so you can imagine Villa had his hands full at practice.

While in college, Villa also logged valuable experience playing in Hawaiian Fil-Am leagues. As a BYU junior, he saw action as a guard and was named to the mythical All-Star squad at an Arizona collegiate summer league.

Before flying to Manila, Villa suited up in the Los Angeles Fil-Am league.

Villa was the Phone Pals’ third round and 26th overall pick in the PBA draft this year. Tapped ahead of Villa were teammates Harvey Carey and Jimmy Alapag, both first round choices. TNT had no second round slot. Villa was selected over the likes of Jec Chia, Stephen Padilla and Jeffrey Sanders.

In the All-Filipino Cup this year, Villa averaged 2.0 points, 3.1 rebounds and 11.2 minutes in 25 outings. He shot .368 from the floor and .500 from the line. Villa pulled down 11 rebounds in a game against Alaska last March 2 and scored a career-high 12 points in TNT’s 105-101 overtime win over Purefoods last May 21. In Game 1 of the Finals that conference, Villa tallied eight points.

In the Invitationals, Villa played briefly in three of four Phone Pals Games and managed only two points in total. This conference, he hasn’t played at all.

Villa’s problem is he’s too bulky and slow-footed to play guard and too short to play power forward. He can’t do anything about his height but he can certainly do something about his weight. If Villa hopes to become the PBA’s most improved player next year, he’s got a lot of polishing to do. But with his National Basketball Association connection, it’s highly possible Villa will return next season with a bang.

Akana, who speaks Mandarin, sat on the Chinese national team’s bench as a consultant at the World Basketball Championships in Indianapolis last year. Villa’s wife and Akana are two of 10 children.

Incidentally, one of the Nuggets’ assistant coaches is PBA veteran Arthur (Chip) Engelland. The 42-year-old former Duke University hotshot was hired last summer "after forging an impressive reputation as one of the country’s top shooting coaches," according to the Denver website. Engelland was described in the website as a former ball boy for legendary coach John Wooden’s 1975 NCAA champion UCLA team. He was cited for playing on the San Miguel Corp. team that captured the Jones Cup crown in Taipei in 1985.

Engelland set up his "Chip Shots" camps for players of all ages to refine their shooting techniques in 1993 and established his In-Net Corp. two years later to formalize engagements as a clinician, advisor and shooting doctor. Among his clients were Grant Hill, Steve Kerr, Chamique Holdsclaw, Shane Battier, Larry Hughes and Corey Maggette.

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In yesterday’s issue, The Star exposed an obvious injustice to former world middleweight champion Ceferino Garcia who has been ignored by the International Boxing Hall of Fame since it was established in Canastota, New York, in 1990.

Readers called to find out how they can join the campaign to make things right for the Filipino whose dreaded weapon was the bolo punch, a combination uppercut and half-hook driven by a windmill pitch.

For the record, Garcia was foiled in two attempts to win the world welterweight crown before wresting the middleweight diadem from Hall of Famer Fred Apostoli in New York in 1939. In his first defense, Garcia returned to Manila and halted Glen Lee in the 13th round before an elated hometown crowd. In March 1940, he fought Armstrong to a draw in his second defense. Garcia lost the title to Ken Overlin on points in his third defense in New York.

Garcia’s first paycheck as a fighter amounted to P10.50. His largest purse was $20,000. Garcia invested his earnings in real estate and a restaurant business. In 1964, Garcia was cited by the Philippine Sportswriters Association for bringing honor and glory to the country as a world champion. He was stricken by arthritis and a kidney ailment before succumbing to a respiratory illness at the Kaiser hospital in San Diego in 1981. Garcia was 69 when he died.

Another Filipino who deserves to be in the Hall of Fame is the late Lope (Papa) Sarreal, Sr. who had a hand in crowning over 20 world champions of various nationalities, including Elorde, Muangsurin, Masao Ohba and Ricardo Arredondo of Mexico. Sarreal died in 1995 at 90.

If promoters Dewey Fragetta, George Parnassus and Sad Sam Ichinose–with whom Sarreal dealt closely in his heyday–are in the Hall of Fame, Papa deserves recognition, too.

The Hall of Fame is now finalizing its nominees for next year’s induction. Write to Ed Brophy of the International Boxing Hall of Fame and Museum at 1 Hall of Fame Drive, Canastota, New York 13032, USA or fax him at 315-6975356 to lobby for Garcia and Sarreal.