User:Gail Urb/Joshua Urbiztondo

Joshua Emile Urbiztondo(born February 27, 1983) is a Filipino-American professional basketball player in the Philippine Basketball Association who currently plays for the Sta. Lucia Realtors.

Early Life

Josh is a native of San Francisco, born to David and Gail Urbiztondo. He has one elder brother, Jason. He grew up in San Mateo and attended Immaculate Heart of Mary Grammar School.

High School

In 1997 Josh enrolled at Serra High School and played freshman basketball and awarded the MVP Award. He transferred to Hillsdale High School and played JV basketball in his sophomore year and received All League and the MVP award. On the weekends Eddie Chow who played on The USF team with the late Phil Smith tutored him. Eddie taught him all the fundamentals in shooting, dribbling and guarding. In Josh’s junior year he averaged almost 17ppg. His senior year he was the league-leading scorer averaging 19.5 ppg. He was voted Best of the Best in the San Mateo County Times. He became a favorite of many sportswriters, including Merv Harris, longtime prep sports writer and editor at the San Francisco Examiner. Josh was interviewed on a local television by all the Bay Area sports writers as being one of the best and brightest prep stars in the Peninsula County.

College

Josh was 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. Josh was then offered a full-ride scholarship to Fresno Pacific University, a Division I NAIA school in the Golden State Athletic Conference. He was ranked nationally averaging 11.5ppg, 2.4rpg, 3.3apg and had a .822 Free Throw %. 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 acquired the services of Fil-American Josh Urbiztondo, a playmaker who made his debut in the 2006 PBL Silver Cup. Josh 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 was named the top “Defensive Stopper”. Josh was selected to the men’s national team, which represented the Philippines in the South East Asian Games (SEAG). Josh 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 then played an exhibition game at the jam-packed gym. Josh returned to the U.S. in the summer of 2008 and was invited to play in the San Francisco Summer Pro-Am League. Some of the pros included Monta Ellis, Matt Barnes, Adonal Foyle and Jovan Harris.Simultaneosly he also played in the Dream League National Basketball Tournaments in San Francisco and New York (MVP) where they won a couple of championships and Las Vegas (MVP). 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 won the Manila Leg Championship. Josh returned to the PBL and played for the Pharex Bidang Generix.

Accomplishments and awards

PBL

·	2006-07 season 2006 PBL Showcase 3 point Shootout Runner Up			December 2006-2007 Defensive Player of the League

College

·	Senior Year (2005-2006) Fresno Pacific University Sunbird of the Year Award ·	Sophomore Year (2003-2004) Foothill College All-Conference Team All-Tournament Team ·	Freshman Year (2002-2003) Foothill College All-Conference

High School

·	Senior Year (2000-2001) Hillsdale High All-League First Team All-County First Team (Voted Best of the Best in San Mateo County Times) All-Tournament Team

·	Junior Year (1999-2000) Hillsdale High All-Tournament Team All-League Second Team San Mateo County Times Athlete of the Week Independent Basketball Player of the Week

·	Sophomore Year (1998-1999) Hillsdale High All-League Team

·	Freshman Year (1997-1998) Serra High Freshman Serra Basketball Award