Royal Ivey has already made an impact with the Bucks this season -- whether it's on the court or from the sidelines. (Getty)

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Tix

December 11, 2007

MILWAUKEE -- Charlie Villanueva is a product of New York City's vaunted network of playground basketball.

Since the Queens, N.Y. native first set foot on that hallowed blacktop about a dozen years and almost as many inches ago, he has seen virtually everyone who is anyone in Big Apple hoops circles. New York is the largest city in the United States, but those who have game rarely get lost there.

Somehow, one guy managed to slip through one of those cracked sidewalks that the late Al McGuire always used to talk about. But he has resurfaced, and he now resides just a few doors down from Villanueva in the Milwaukee Bucks' locker room.

As Villanueva laced up his sneakers for a pregame shooting session, he looked across the room at Royal Ivey. Then he shook his head and smiled in admiration.

"I've known Royal since I was 14," Villanueva said. "We go way back. Back then, you never would have thought Royal would make it to the NBA."

During Villanueva's teenage heyday on such schoolyard courts as those alongside Public School 46 in Queens, guys like Omar Cook, Chucky Brown and Andre Barrett were deemed the kings of the backcourt.

"Those guys who were McDonald's All-Americans," Villanueva said. "And none of those guys are in the NBA.

"But here you have Royal Ivey in the NBA. That tells you a lot about who he is and how hard he has worked on his game."

Back before Ivey could even begin to develop his game at the prep level, he had to earn admission into prestigious Benjamin N. Cardozo High School, a perfoming arts magnet school in Queens. And he did so in an extremely unusual way -- with his dancing skills.

He took classes in ballet, hip-hop, tap and modern dance, and his dancing prowess earned him whatever notoriety he received during his early years at Cardozo.

He played on the junior varsity basketball team as a freshman and did not see significant varsity time until his junior season.

"I've always been an underdog," Ivey said. "Nobody expected me to do anything in high school, in college or in the NBA.

"But I've just kept proving people wrong, and I've never stopped working at that."

Ivey's first proving ground was nothing less than the oldest, largest and most intense basketball hotbed in the United States -- New York City -- yet he had the drive to make the grade.

His game made a substantial climb during his senior season at Cardozo, when he earned All-Queens honors from the New York Daily News.

Playing forward back then, the 6-foot-2-inch Ivey led Cardozo all the way to the championship game of the NYC Public Schools Athletic League A Division tournament.

He went scoreless as Cardozo fell into a 25-20 first-half hole against John F. Kennedy of the Bronx, but delivered 16 points after the break. Ivey made two free throws to put Cardozo's Judges ahead for good, 41-39, with 6 minutes 34 seconds to play, and they went on to a 57-47 triumph before a crowd of 8,119 at Madison Square Garden. They finished 23-4.

The city championship was Cardozo's first since 1978, three years before the program's famed coach, Ron Naclerio, took the reins. Ivey and his teammates made the conquest possible by forcing 26 turnovers in the title game.

Villanueva just happened to be in the house that day. He was there to see his brother Robert score 15 points in leading Franklin K. Lane over Grover Cleveland, 60-58, in a duel of Queens schools in the B Division final..

"I was watching my brother at the time," Villanueva said. "My brother ended up being the MVP for his team, and Royal was named the A Division MVP after his team won the A Division championship.

"He's always been a defensive-minded guy. I'll always remember watching him play, and what a great player he was back then."

Despite Ivey's title-game heroics and his coach's best efforts -- Naclerio contacted over 60 Division-I schools on Ivey's behalf without getting any recruiting nibbles -- "the underdog" was forced to find another proving ground.

Ivey ventured to Blair Academy in Blairstown, N.J. for a post-graduate year to help improve his stock.

Leaving home wasn't easy, but it may have been the best decision he ever made.

"I wanted to get another year under my belt, both for maturity and basketball," Ivey said. "I wasn't happy with the looks I was getting from mid-majors and high Division-I programs. Joe Mantegna, the coach at Blair Academy, gave me a call, and I wound up there."

Ivey was already an accomplished student. Blair continued to challenge him academically in a college-like environment. All of students lived in campus dorms.

"For the first time, I was living in a different state with different people than those I had grown up with," Ivey said. "Blair was like a college campus, and it provided a great environment for learning. I developed good study habits and realized the importance of school."

Ivey developed as a ballplayer as well. He added an inch to his frame, built his strength and averaged 21 points, eight rebounds and six assists for Blair. It was his defense, though, that caught the attention of former University of Texas assistant coach Rob Lanier. Then one day, Texas head coach Rick Barnes paid him a visit.

"He offered me a scholarship," Ivey recalled. "Even my father didn't believe it."

Ivey accepted Barnes' offer and has just continued making believers ever since.

In Ivey's freshman year, Barnes had no true point guard on his squad, so he called upon Ivey to take the controls, even though he had never previously played point guard at any level.

Ivey started 26 of 34 games as a frosh and helped the Longhorns go 25-9.

The following year marked the Austin arrival of an All-American point guard by the name of T.J. Ford, so Ivey shifted back to the "2" spot. His scoring average shot up from 2.8 points a game to 10.9.

Ivey went on to become a four-year starter at UT and helped lead the 'Horns to four NCAA Tourney appearances, including three consecutive "Sweet 16" berths and a Final Four appearance. He was a two-time Big 12 Conference All-Defensive team selection. He wound up as Texas' 24th all-time leading scorer with 1,036 points, finished as the school's career leader in games started (126) and tied for third on the school's games played list (133) .

During Ivey's years in Austin, his wingspan was measured at 6 feet-11 inches -- 8 inches more than his height. The guy his teammates nicknamed "Edward Scissorfingers" served as Texas' captain as a senior and was named a third-team All-Big 12 selection and the Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year by the Houston Chronicle.

Ivey would be scrutinized yet again, though, as he set out to find a niche at the professional level.

His biography wasn't even included in the NBA's 2004 Draft night media guide, which means the league's scouting mavens were basically putting a "Keep Out" sign in front of him.

The Atlanta Hawks did their homework, though, and selected him with the second pick in the second round of the NBA Draft.

Ivey not only made the Hawks' roster, but started 66 games as a rookie, averaging 3.6 points, 1.3 rebounds and 1 assist. He led NBA guards in fewest turnovers per 48 minutes (1.1).

He spent the 2005-06 and 2006-07 seasons with Atlanta as well before becoming a free agent and signing with the Bucks on Sept. 18, 2007.

Villanueva was excited to hear that Ivey might be rejoining him in Milwaukee.

"Dave Babcock (Milwaukee's director of player personnel) had told me the Bucks might be considering Royal," Villanueva said. "I told him he's a defensive-minded guy who can definitely help us. That's where we struggled last year. I knew if we brought in a guy like that, it would definitely help us out."

And how did Villanueva react when he heard the Bucks had signed Ivey?

"I was thrilled," he said. "We not only grew up in the same place, but played at the same prep school. We played on an AAU team during the summer. He's a good teammate, a great guy... a great person.

"Royal is a defensive-minded guy, a hard worker. He'll knock you down. He's real poised. He's been in the league and established himself. He understands the game very well. He's a great acquistion for us."

Ivey was excited to come aboard, too.

"I looked at this as a great opportunity for me," he said. "I hope I can reward the confidence the Bucks have shown in me."

Everywhere his basketball career has taken him, Royal Terence Ivey has done that ... and a whole lot more.