Pocholo "Cholo" Iñigo Villanueva (born November 24, 1982) is a Filipino former professional

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

player. He currently serves as the head coach for the Tanduay Rum Masters. He previously served as the assistant coach for the Bay Area Dragons. He was drafted with the thirteenth overall pick of the 2008 PBA draft by the

Air21 Express Air21 Express may refer to * Barako Bull Energy, Philippine basketball team named as "Air21 Express" from 2005 to 2009, and from 2010 to 2011 * Air21 Express (2012–2014) The Air21 Express was a professional basketball team in the Philippine B ...

. From 2001 to 2007, he played for the

De La Salle Green Archers The De La Salle Green Archers and Lady Archers are the varsity teams representing De La Salle University in the University Athletic Association of the Philippines, among other leagues. The "Green Archer" is the traditional university mascot. Whi ...

in the UAAP where he won a championship in 2007 and was named co-Finals MVP with

JVee Casio Joseph Evans "JVee" D. Casio (born September 1, 1986) is a Filipino basketball player for the Blackwater Bossing of the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA). He was drafted first overall by the Powerade Tigers in 2011 PBA draft. Early life Ca ...

Professional career

Barangay Ginebra traded

Paul Artadi Paul Anthony Dy Artadi (born May 5, 1981) is a Filipino politician, basketball coach, and former professional player. On his eleven-year career in the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA), he played the point guard position and was a three-ti ...

Rafi Reavis Rafael Reavis (born July 27, 1977) is a Filipino-American professional basketball player for the Magnolia Chicken Timplados Hotshots of the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA). Professional career Reavis first played for the San Juan Knigh ...

, and the rights to

2009 PBA draft The 2009 Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) rookie draft was an event at which teams drafted players from the amateur ranks. The event was held at Market! Market! in Taguig on August 2, 2009. The Burger King Whoppers selected Japeth Aguil ...

8th pick overall Chris Timberlake for

Enrico Villanueva Jose Enrico Pascual Villanueva (born June 23, 1980) is a Filipino former professional basketball player. He last played for the NLEX Road Warriors of the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA). Amateur career Villanueva first played for the ...

Rich Alvarez Richard Alvarez (born October 30, 1980) is a Japanese-born Filipino professional basketball coach and former player who is an assistant coach for the Basilan Starhorse of the MPBL. He played his whole career in the Philippine Basketball Associ ...

Celino Cruz Celino Salazar Cruz (born July 22, 1977) is a Filipino former professional basketball player. A deadly left-handed shooter, he is best known for his clutch plays. Cruz played eight seasons in the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA). After pl ...

, and Paolo Bugia of Purefoods. Burger King acted as the conduit team, trading Villanueva to Ginebra and acquiring the rights to 2009 Rookie draft eighteenth pick Orlando Daroya and future picks. However, he chose to retire and pursue a career in coaching.

Coaching career

On 2011, Villanueva joined his former coach in La Salle,

Franz Pumaren Franz Santos Pumaren (born February 5, 1962) is a Filipino former professional basketball player and coach who is serving as the House of Representatives of the Philippines, representative for Quezon City's Quezon City's 3rd congressional distr ...

as the assistant coach in then newly formed PBA team, Shopinas.com Clickers. The team was later renamed as Air21 Express. He stayed as assistant coach and team manager until the team was bought by

NLEX Road Warriors The NLEX Road Warriors is a professional basketball team owned by Manila North Tollways Corporation, NLEX Corporation, a subsidiary of Metro Pacific Investments Corporation, playing in the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) since the 2014 ...

in July 2014. In March 2014, he joined the coaching staff of JRU Heavy Bombers under the leadership of

Vergel Meneses Vergel Corpuz Meneses (born January 14, 1969) is a Filipino retired professional basketball player and a politician, serving as mayor of the municipality of Bulakan, Bulacan. He previously played in the Philippine Basketball Association and ser ...

. He helped them get into the Final Four of the NCAA once again. In 2018, Villanueva joined the Makati Skyscrapers (later the Makati Super Crunch) of the

Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League The Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League (MPBL) is a men's regional professional basketball league in the Philippines composed of 30 teams. Founded in 2017 by eight-division boxing world champion and then-Senator Manny Pacquiao, the MPBL is ...

(MPBL), leading Makati to a 21–4 record in the

2018–19 MPBL season The 2018–19 MPBL season, also known as the MPBL Datu Cup, was the second season of the Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League. The regular season began on June 12, 2018 with the opening ceremonies Smart Araneta Coliseum in Quezon City, and end ...

, and up to a 20–4 record in

2019 This was the year in which the first known human case of COVID-19 was documented, preceding COVID-19 pandemic, the pandemic which was declared by the World Health Organization the following year. Up to that point, 2019 had been described as ...

before resigning in December 2019, citing Makati's management "has a different direction" for the team. In 2021, Villanueva returned to the MPBL to coach the Manila Stars for the 2021 MPBL Invitational. After his stint in Manila, in February 2022, Villanueva was confirmed as the head coach for

Batangas City Batangas, sometimes called Batangas City and officially called the City of Batangas (), is a component city and capital of the province of Batangas, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 351,437 people. Batangas City ...

of the MPBL and Filbasket (where it competes as the Tanduay Rum Masters), bringing over the core of the old Makati team that he handled from 2018 to 2019. In 2022, Villanueva was named as assistant coach of

Hong Kong Hong Kong)., Legally Hong Kong, China in international treaties and organizations. is a special administrative region of China. With 7.5 million residents in a territory, Hong Kong is the fourth most densely populated region in the wor ...

–based team Bay Area Dragons.

As program director

In 2022, Villanueva became the program director of the

La Salle Greenies The La Salle Green Hills Greenies is the varsity team representing La Salle Green Hills (LSGH) located in Mandaluyong, Metro Manila, Philippines. In the National Collegiate Athletic Association (Philippines) (NCAA), they compete as De La Salle– ...

, the high school team of his college alma mater. He hired his former teammate Renren Ritualo, to be its head coach.

Personal life

Villanueva married his college sweetheart, former DLSU courtside reporter, Agnes Tapia in a ceremony at Santuario de San Antonio Parish on December 12, 2012. Reception followed at the Filoil Flying V Arena, which was transformed from a basketball court to a formal red carpet event.

References

External links

Player profile at asiabasket.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Villanueva, Pocholo 1981 births Living people Filipino men's basketball players Basketball players from Manila De La Salle Green Archers basketball players Barako Bull Energy players Filipino men's basketball coaches Air21 Express coaches Shooting guards Barako Bull Energy draft picks JRU Heavy Bombers basketball coaches NorthPort Batang Pier coaches 21st-century Filipino sportsmen Filipino women's basketball coaches MPBL coaches