Villegas started every game as a freshman and the next season he averaged 13.8 points per game, leading the Rockets to only their second 20-win season in 20 years.

Friends were telling him that he had a shot at the NBA if he put together a strong junior season. But instead, he lost his reliable outside shooting touch and never found it over his last two seasons.

"I just saw it spiraling," said James Stafford, a former Toledo assistant. "We all thought the pressure was getting to him."

Villegas saw limited time his senior year and averaged just 6 points per game.

"He still came into the gym and practiced his shot," Stafford said. "He just couldn't make shots."

His slump coincided with when prosecutors said he began taking part in the point-shaving scheme. Court documents said he met with or talked to a conspirator from Michigan 10 times in 2005 and 2006.

He intentionally missed two free throws in a game on Feb. 4., 2006, prosecutors said.

On that day, Toledo beat Central Michigan 78-62. Villegas hit his only shot of the game, a 3-pointer, but missed two free throws in the final minute.

Stafford said he was not convinced Villegas ever shaved points.

"I'm not going to say there was no way in the world they could have done that," Stafford said. "But I don't think so. I didn't see anything like that."

He said he trusted Villegas enough to let him baby-sit his sons. He knew there were rumors about point-shaving after he left, but never expected Villegas to be linked to them.

"It was one of the last names I would have expected to see," Stafford said.

Prosecutors didn't say how many games were involved or who paid the players.

The case against Villegas comes just over a year after a Toledo football player was accused in a gambling scheme. Those charges, though, were dropped. Prosecutors said a Michigan gambler recruited players to affect the outcome of Rockets football and basketball games.

The gambler, who has not been charged, has been identified as Gary Manni of Sterling Heights.

Manni told The (Toledo) Blade on Wednesday that he knew many Toledo athletes including Villegas, but he was not involved in a point-shaving scheme. "Seriously, one person cannot change the outcome of a game," Manni said. "They're just assuming things."

The interim president of Puerto Rico's basketball association said he'll wait before deciding whether Villegas can continue to play there.

"If found guilty, it would affect his eligibility to play in Puerto Rico," Ruben Nigaglioni said.

Villegas is currently playing in the Dominican Republic with the Cocolos of San Pedro de Macoris, said Fernando Quinones, owner of the San German Athletics, the Puerto Rican team for which Villegas also plays.

"We are as surprised as the rest of Puerto Rico is," he said. "We understand that everyone is presumed innocent, and we will wait until the evidence is presented."

NCAA officials, meanwhile, have been in contact with the university along with law enforcement and Las Vegas gaming officials, said NCCA spokeswoman Stacey Osburn.

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Associated Press writer Omar Marrero contributed to this report from San Juan, Puerto Rico.