David Huertas is a Puerto Rican

Puerto Rico

Puerto Rico , officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico , is an unincorporated territory of the United States, located in the northeastern Caribbean, east of the Dominican Republic and west of both the United States Virgin Islands and the British Virgin Islands.Puerto Rico comprises an...

 professional basketball

Basketball

Basketball is a team sport in which two teams of five players try to score points by throwing or "shooting" a ball through the top of a basketball hoop while following a set of rules...

 player. Huertas is a 6'5" shooting guard

Shooting guard

The shooting guard , also known as the two or off guard, is one of five traditional positions on a basketball team. Players of the position are often shorter, leaner, and quicker than forwards. A shooting guard's main objective is to score points for his team...

 who currently plays professionally with Piratas de Quebradillas in the National Superior Basketball league. He is also a member of the Puerto Rican national basketball team

Puerto Rico national basketball team

The Puerto Rico men's national basketball team represents Puerto Rico in international basketball competitions such as the Olympics, the World Championship, and the Americas Championship...

.

College career

Huertas committed to play NCAA basketball for the Florida Gators

Florida Gators men's basketball

The Florida Gators men's basketball team represents the University of Florida in the sport of basketball. The Gators compete in National Collegiate Athletic Association Division I and the Southeastern Conference...

 after leading his high school, Arlington Country Day in Jacksonville, Florida

Jacksonville, Florida

Jacksonville is the largest city in the U.S. state of Florida in terms of both population and land area, and the largest city by area in the contiguous United States. It is the county seat of Duval County, with which the city government consolidated in 1968...

, to a state championship in his senior year. In his freshmen season for the Gators, he saw action in 35 games off the bench, averaging 2.5 points and 1.5 rebounds for the team, en route to the 2006 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament

2006 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament

The 2006 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament involved 65 schools playing in a single-elimination tournament to determine the national champion of men's NCAA Division I college basketball as a culmination of the 2005–06 basketball season...

 championship. Students and the band members gave Huertas the nickname Rufio due to his resemblance to the character in the movie "Hook" played by Dante Basco

Dante Basco

Danté Basco is an American actor, voice actor, poet, and dancer. He is best known for playing Rufio in the 1991 live-action Peter Pan film Hook...

.

Unhappy with his minor role on the team, Huertas transferred to the Ole Miss Rebels

Ole Miss Rebels

University of Mississippi sports teams, originally known as the "Mississippi Flood" , were re-named the Rebels in 1936 and compete in the twelve-member Southeastern Conference of the NCAA's Division I. The school's colors are cardinal red and navy blue , purposely chosen to mirror the school...

 after the season. Huertas sat out the 2006-07 season because of NCAA transfer rules. Huertas played for the Rebels in the 2007-08 and 2008-09 seasons, putting up solid numbers as a starting shooting guard. In the 2008-09 season, he was the Rebels' leading scorer, averaging 18.1 points per game while failing to reach double figures only once in thirty games played. His 18.1 points per game was the fourth highest total in the Southeastern Conference

Southeastern Conference

The Southeastern Conference is an American college athletic conference that operates in the southeastern part of the United States. It is headquartered in Birmingham, Alabama...

. Following the season, Huertas was selected to the All-Conference Second Team.

Professional career

Following his junior season, Huertas made the decision to turn professional, signing with Puerto Rican team Piratas de Quebradillas of the Baloncesto Superior Nacional. He joined the Piratas midseason, helping the team reach the finals, where they fell to the Vaqueros de Bayamon in six games.

With the Puerto Rican season over, Huertas participated in the June 2009 Reebok Eurocamp, impressing many with his shooting accuracy. After this performance, he was signed by French team Fos Ouest Provence Basket of the French ProB League

Ligue Nationale de Basketball

The Ligue National de Basket is the top men's French professional basketball league. There are two divisions: French Pro A League and French Pro B League .-Pro A:...

. He averaged 16.1 points per game over 23 games to finish as the league's fifth best scorer.

Huertas then returned to the Piratas for the 2010 season. He averaged 16.1 points per game for the team, leading to them to the league semifinals, where they lost in seven games to eventual champions Capitanes de Arecibo.

International career

Huertas is also a member of the Puerto Rico national basketball team

Puerto Rico national basketball team

The Puerto Rico men's national basketball team represents Puerto Rico in international basketball competitions such as the Olympics, the World Championship, and the Americas Championship...

. He played with the team at the 2006 Central American and Caribbean Games

Basketball at the 2006 Central American and Caribbean Games

Basketball in the 2006 Central American and Caribbean Games took place in the Coliseo Cubierto Base Naval in Cartagena, Colombia from the July 16 to July 22 for women and July 24 to July 30 for men. Each competition had 6 teams.-First Round:...

 and the 2010 Centrobasket

2010 Centrobasket

The 2010 Men's Central American and Caribbean Basketball Championship, also known as 2010 Centrobasket, was hosted in the Dominican Republic. This edition was the first time that the Centrobasket featured ten teams in the finals; previously, eight teams had qualified. Puerto Rico won the title...

, helping the team win the gold medal at both tournaments. He was selected to the national team roster for the 2010 FIBA World Championship

2010 FIBA World Championship

The 2010 FIBA World Championship, hosted by Turkey, was the international basketball competition contested by the men's national teams. The tournament ran from August 28 to September 12, 2010. It was co-organized by the International Basketball Federation , Turkish Basketball Federation and the...

 in Turkey

Turkey

Turkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey , is a Eurasian country located in Western Asia and in East Thrace in Southeastern Europe...

 — his first major international tournament — after long-time players Christian Dalmau

Christian Dalmau

Christian Dalmau is a Puerto Rican professional basketball player. He is the second son of the legendary Puerto Rican basketball star Raymond Dalmau...

 and Larry Ayuso left the team.
David Huertas has been selected to represent Puerto Rico.