BLACKSBURG -- For most of this season, one only had to look at the back of A.D. Vassallo's head to know how much his homeland means to him.

Vassallo left Puerto Rico for Virginia six years ago to play high school basketball. The Virginia Tech forward has always been proud of his heritage but feared it was slipping away from him. So last fall, he had teammate Marcus Travis shave two letters into the back of his head.

PR.

"I wanted to represent what I was," Vassallo said. "Sometimes I got more involved in trying to ... get so much better to show people here that I was good. I kind of forgot ... some people back home that I owe a lot. I was getting so involved with school up here, and sports. I was trying to improve myself so much in English, trying to fit in so much, that sometimes I forgot where I was coming from.

"I want to make sure that I always remember, that I have some part of me show everybody when I'm playing ... where I'm from."

Last summer, Travis shaved the Puerto Rican flag into the back of Vassallo's head. But it took a lot of upkeep, so early in the season Vassallo switched to "PR." His hair has grown over it of late, but he intends to get the letters back soon.

Vassallo, once a member of the Puerto Rican junior national team, has a pair of sneakers with the Puerto Rican flag on it. He also has a belt buckle, hat, shirts and shorts with "Puerto Rico" on them.

"If it was your first day meeting him, he'd let you know he was from Puerto Rico," guard Zabian Dowdell said. "Every time he goes out there on that court, he knows he's representing Puerto Rico."

Son of a star

Vassallo -- the A.D. stands for Angel Daniel -- grew up in the city of Toa Baja, about 10 minutes from the beach. He often would spend all day at the beach with his family and friends, playing volleyball or racing jet skis.

Vassallo learned the game of basketball from an expert -- his father, Daniel Vassallo, who played pro basketball in Puerto Rico for two decades. While growing up, all Vassallo heard was how good a player his father was.

"He's the second-best shooter in his family," Tech coach Seth Greenberg said of Vassallo. "His dad was one of the best players ever in Puerto Rico."

Vassallo attended many of his father's games.

"He was a lot faster than I am," said Vassallo, 20. "He was the type of guy that could run the court all day and ... never get tired -- something I kind of sometimes struggle with."

When Vassallo took the court, the kids on the other team or their parents would say that all Vassallo had was the last name. He's not as good as his dad, they would say. He never will be.

Vassallo would laugh in response.

"I really was not bothered because I never wanted to be like him," said Vassallo, who plays pickup basketball with his father when he goes home. "I wanted to have my own style. ... He always liked that about me. He wanted me to excel and be better than he was."

Off to America

Vassallo's parents don't speak English, but he learned it in elementary school. His parents wanted him to attend college in the U.S., so the plan was for him to go to high school in America so he could gain exposure and reap a college basketball scholarship. They learned about Faith Christian Academy in the town of Hurt, Va., from a friend of Vassallo's father.

Vassallo spent his final three years of high school at Faith Christian. The adjustment was not easy. He still had more English to learn. And he missed his favorite dish, rice and beans.

"The first three or four days, all I could think about was back home -- the food, and telling my parents I love them at night before I went to bed," he said.

Vassallo, who never needed winter clothes in Puerto Rico, also had to get used to a new climate. That first winter, he was sick "every day."

But he stuck it out. Vassallo switched host families after his sophomore year, moving into the Campbell County home of Faith Christian athletic director Gene Carwile, his wife, Becky, and their four children. He spent his junior and senior years with them, and became another member of the family.

Becky Carwile was an associate dean at Liberty University and would push Vassallo about his grades.

"She took a strong liking to him," said the Carwiles' 19-year-old son, Cody. "If he ever had any trouble in school, being the educator that she was, she would try to do her best to help."

Vassallo signed with the University of Richmond. He met NCAA eligibility standards but was denied admission by Richmond and was advised by UR coaches to play for the postgraduate team at Hargrave Military Academy in Chatham. He again signed with UR while at Hargrave and boosted his SAT scores but still wasn't admitted to the college. So he signed with Tech in May 2005, one month after Spiders coach Jerry Wainwright left for DePaul.

Emotional year

Vassallo made Tech's starting lineup at small forward as a freshman last season. But in the second game, he tipped in a Bowling Green miss at the buzzer to give the Falcons a stunning win. He didn't start again that season until late January.

"We threw A.D. to the wolves a little too soon and probably should've brought him along a little slower," Greenberg said. "He felt like he was letting the team down [with the tip-in]. He's very prideful. Through all his bravado, he's a pretty sensitive guy."

Vassallo's freshman season took a tragic turn when Becky Carwile died of breast cancer on Jan. 6, 2006. She had been diagnosed with terminal cancer in January 2005.

The Carwiles had remained part of Vassallo's life after he graduated from Faith Christian. While at Hargrave, Vassallo stayed with or visited the Carwiles during weekends or school breaks. He has continued those visits while at Tech.

Vassallo loved Becky Carwile. Greenberg has said her death left Vassallo "as emotionally distraught as I've ever seen a kid." At Becky's funeral, Gene Carwile gave a flower to each of their children -- and to Vassallo. Vassallo still has the flower in his locker.

After Tech beat Miami on Saturday afternoon, Vassallo headed to the Carwiles' home, where he still has his own room, for the rest of the weekend.

He misses Becky.

"I still think about it a lot," he said of her death. "It's still tough sometimes."

Productive season

Vassallo started eight of Tech's final 11 games last season. But Greenberg wanted to go with a bigger lineup this season, so he moved Deron Washington from power forward to small forward and made Vassallo a backup.

Vassallo ranks fourth on the 20-8 Hokies in scoring (11.4 points per game) and is tied for fourth in minutes (24.1 mpg). Greenberg has started Vassallo instead of Lewis Witcher in three of the past five games, including the past two, because he wanted more scoring and a quicker lineup. He now intends to stick with Washington as the starting power forward and Vassallo as the starting small forward, unless he needs a bigger lineup.

Vassallo is the Hokies' top outside threat. He ranks fifth in the ACC in 3-pointers (2 per game) and leads the Hokies in 3-point field-goal percentage (45.5 percent).

"He's got a beautiful stroke," Greenberg said. "You like to have guys on your team that when they shoot it, you think it's going in.

"He has the potential to be a world-class shooter."

Greenberg said Vassallo has improved his defense and rebounding this season. He is also doing a better job of putting the ball on the floor.

"He's not just settling for jump shots," Greenberg said. "When he's running the floor, when he's using his shot fake to keep people off balance, when he's rebounding, he's a very good player."

Vassallo's parents plan to fly to the ACC Tournament in Tampa, Fla.. It will be the first time his mother has attended a Tech game.

Vassallo talks on the phone with his parents four times a week.

"The more years I spend out here, the more I kind of miss them," he said.

And his homeland.

"I think about it so much," said Vassallo, who was last there for two weeks last summer. "Sometimes I wish I could get to go home every week."