Joshua Urbiztondo better known as Josh Urbiztondo (born February 27, 1983 in San Francisco, California

San Francisco, California

San Francisco , officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the financial, cultural, and transportation center of the San Francisco Bay Area, a region of 7.15 million people which includes San Jose and Oakland...

, USA) is a Filipino

Philippines

The Philippines , officially known as the Republic of the Philippines , is a country in Southeast Asia in the western Pacific Ocean. To its north across the Luzon Strait lies Taiwan. West across the South China Sea sits Vietnam...

–American

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 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 currently playing for the B-Meg Llamados in the Philippine Basketball Association

Philippine Basketball Association

The Philippine Basketball Association , is a men's professional basketball league in the Philippines composed of 10 company-branded franchised teams. It is the first and oldest professional basketball league in Asia and the second oldest in the world after the NBA...

. He plays the Point Guard

Point guard

Point guard , also called the play maker or "the ball-handler", is one of the standard positions in a regulation basketball game. A point guard has perhaps the most specialized role of any position – essentially, he is expected to run the team's offense by controlling the ball and making sure that...

 position.

In 2010, the Realtors were replaced by the Meralco Bolts

Meralco Bolts

The Meralco Bolts is a professional basketball team of the Philippine Basketball Association founded in 2010 when the Manila Electric Company bought the Sta...

. In August 2010, the newly founded team gave away Urbiztondo and its number 3 pick in the 2010 PBA Draft

2010 PBA Draft

The 2010 Philippine Basketball Association Rookie Draft is an event held at Market! Market! in Taguig City on August 29, 2010 that allowed PBA teams to draft players from the amateur ranks. Players who applied for the draft went through a rookie camp that lasted a week...

 to the Air21 Express

Air21 Express

The Barako Bull Energy is a Philippine Basketball Association team that began in 2002.Barako Bull is owned by Energy Food and Drinks Inc., a subsidiary of the Linaheim Corporate Services, owners of the defunct Laguna Lakers of the Metropolitan Basketball Association...

. He was later signed by the B-Meg Llamados.

Career highlights

• 2010 PBA All-Star Obstacle Challenge Participant, Puerto Princesa
  2010 PBA All-Star Weekend
  The 2010 PBA All-Star Week is the annual all-star weekend of the Philippine Basketball Association 's 2009–10 PBA season. The events were held from April 22 to 25, 2010 at the Puerto Princesa Coliseum, Puerto Princesa, Palawan.-Obstacle Challenge:...
  
  
• 2010 PBA All-Star Three-point shootout Participant, Puerto Princesa
  2010 PBA All-Star Weekend
  The 2010 PBA All-Star Week is the annual all-star weekend of the Philippine Basketball Association 's 2009–10 PBA season. The events were held from April 22 to 25, 2010 at the Puerto Princesa Coliseum, Puerto Princesa, Palawan.-Obstacle Challenge:...
  
  
• 2010 PBA All-Star Rookie-Sophomore Blitz Game Participant, Puerto Princesa
  2010 PBA All-Star Weekend
  The 2010 PBA All-Star Week is the annual all-star weekend of the Philippine Basketball Association 's 2009–10 PBA season. The events were held from April 22 to 25, 2010 at the Puerto Princesa Coliseum, Puerto Princesa, Palawan.-Obstacle Challenge:...
  
  
• 2011 PBA All-Star Obstacle Challenge Participant, Boracay
  2011 PBA All-Star Weekend
  The 2011 PBA All-Star Weekend is the annual all-star weekend of the Philippine Basketball Association 's 2010–11 PBA season. The events will be held from May 18 to 23, 2011 at the Boracay Convention Center, Boracay, Aklan.-Coca-Cola Obstacle Challenges:...
  
  
• 2011 PBA All-Star Rookie-Sophomore Blitz Game Participant, Boracay
  2011 PBA All-Star Weekend
  The 2011 PBA All-Star Weekend is the annual all-star weekend of the Philippine Basketball Association 's 2010–11 PBA season. The events will be held from May 18 to 23, 2011 at the Boracay Convention Center, Boracay, Aklan.-Coca-Cola Obstacle Challenges:...
  
  

Early life

Urbiztondo is a native of San Francisco, born to David and Gail Urbiztondo, He has one elder brother, Jason. The family moved down the peninsula to San Mateo where both boys attended Immaculate Heart of Mary School in Belmont.

High school

In 1997 Urbiztondo enrolled at Serra High School and played Freshman Basketball. He transferred to Hillsdale High School and played JV basketball in his sophomore year.In his junior year he played varsity and ranked among the top ten prep players in San Mateo County. He averaged almost 17ppg. His senior year he was the league-leading scorer averaging 19.5 ppg. Urbiztondo was awarded the MVP Award each year and was voted Best of the Best in the San Mateo County Times.He was also interviewed on a local television show with all the Bay Area Prep sports writers as being one of the best and brightest prep stars in the Peninsula County.

College

Urbiztondo was scouted by newly hired coach, Tony Raffetto, who reluctantly told him after tryouts that he had best red-shirt for the 2001-2002 season because Skyline was already stocked with skilled, experienced guards. He decided to try commuting to Foothill, the Los Altos Hills community college that was reviving basketball after firing a coach and suspending it's program because of recruiting irregularities. Urbiztondo became the leading scorer at Foothill College each of his first two seasons earning All-conference honors both years. He helped lead the Owls to the State Playoffs, netting 15.1 points per game, 3.9 assists, 2.7 steals per game. Urbiztondo was then offered a full-ride scholarship to Fresno Pacific University, a Division I school in the Golden State Athletic Conference. He was ranked nationally averaging 11.5 ppg, 2.4 rpg, 3.3 apg and had a .822% in Free Throws. He was awarded the prestigious 'Sunbird Award' for Men's Basketball 2005-2006.

Semi-pro career

In 2006, the Joey Concepcion-owned Kettle Korn team in the Philippine Basketball League acquired the services of Urbiztondo. In his debut in the 2006 PBL Silver Cup, he averaged 3.83 apg and was ranked fifth in the league. In the PBL Showcase he finished second in the 3 point Shootout hitting 18 triples. He played the next season with the Burger King team and in the 2007 PBL Unity Cup he was named the top "Defensive Stopper" (Defensive Player) of the league. Urbiztondo was also selected to the men's national basketball team, which represented the Philippines in the South East Asian Games(SEAG). Urbiztondo was included in a group of seven basketball playing patriots who ventured into Mindanao to introduce a different kind of diplomacy to the war torn sector. The team conducted a cage clinic for the kids and then played an exhibition game at the gym.He returned to the U.S. in the summer of 2008 and was invited to play in the San Francisco Bay Area Summer Pro-Am League. Some of the pros included Monta Ellis, Matt Barnes, Adonal Foyle and Jovan Harris. Simultaneously he also played in the Dream League National Tournaments in San Francisco, New York and Las Vegas.He helped his team win a couple of championships and was awarded MVP in N.Y and Las Vegas. In the New York Gotham City game he scored a best individual performance for 42 points. He returned to the Philippines in 2009 where he was recruited by Manny Pangilinan to play in the newly formed Liga Pilipinas League where he hepled his team win the Manila Leg Championship. Urbiztondo returned to the PBL and played for the Pharex Bidang Generix team.

Pro career

In 2009, Urbiztondo entered the draft for the PBA and was left undrafted. He was later signed by the Sta. Lucia Realtors. He averaged 8.2 ppg, 2.6 apg, 2.5 rpg and 2.0 spg. He leads all freshman in assists, steals and Free Throw percentage and is second in scoring.He was once a recipient of the Accel-KFC Player of the Week honors and made the #1 Play of the Week in assisting Kelly Williams for a dunk. Urbiztondo is currently in the race for Rookie of the Year award.In 2010, the Realtors were replaced by the Meralco Bolts. In August 2010, the newly founded team gave away Urbiztondo and its number 3 pick in the 2010 PBA Draft to the Air21 Express.He was also included on the list of awardees in the PBA Press Corps awards night for the 2009-10 PBA All-Rookie Team. http://www.mb.com.ph/articles/236655/maierhofer-leads-rookie-year-race With just two days left before the end of the elimination round of the 2011 PBA Governors’ Cup, B-MEG made a key acquisition to bolster its semifinals campaign.The Llamados tabbed spitfire guard Josh Urbiztondo

External links

• Urbiztondo / PBA.ph profile