Angelo Cruz
| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Born |
September 20, 1958 New York City, New York |
| Nationality | Puerto Rican / American |
| Listed height | 5 ft 9 in (1.75 m) |
| Listed weight | 175 lb (79 kg) |
| Career information | |
| High school |
DeWitt Clinton (The Bronx, New York) |
| College |
Bethany Nazarene College Essex County College |
| Position | Point guard |
| Career history | |
| 1977–1990 | Indios de Canóvanas |
| 1991–1993 | Titanes de Morovis |
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Medals
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Angelo "Monchito" Cruz (born September 20, 1958) was a Puerto Rican professional basketball player. He was born in New York. Coming out of the Patterson Projects in the Bronx, "Monchito" was a New York City Playground legend by the time he finished High School at DeWitt Clinton High School. After playing at Bethany Nazarene College (OK) and Essex (NJ) County College, he moved on to play professionally in Puerto Rico.
Cruz began his career in the Baloncesto Superior Nacional in 1977, when he was 18 years old. He played for the Indios de Canóvanas for 13 seasons. He led Canóvanas to back-to-back championships in 1983 and 1984 and recorded his 1,500th assist in 1988. His team battles with perennial powerhouses Bayamón, Guaynabo and San Germán are still famous in BSN lore. Cruz spent his last three seasons with the Titanes de Morovis. After 16 years in the league averaging 14.8 points and 4.8 assists per game, he retired after the 1993 season.
At the age of 20, Cruz was part of Puerto Rico's 1979 Pan American team that earned a silver medal in San Juan in a memorable PR-USA showdown against the Isiah Thomas/Bobby Knight led USA team. He would go on to play in two more Pan Am Games in 1983 in Caracas, Venezuela and in 1987 at Indianapolis, Indiana. In 1984 he played at the FIBA 1984 Tournament of the Americas Olympic Qualifier in São Paulo, Brazil. In 1990 he played at the 1990 Goodwill Games in Seattle, Washington.
In 1988, Cruz helped qualify Puerto Rico to the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul, Korea, at the 1988 Tournament of the Americas Olympic Qualifier in Montevideo, Uruguay. At that time, Puerto Rico had been absent from the Summer Olympics since 1976. At the 1988 Summer Olympics in Korea he led the Puerto Rican National Basketball Team in assists and was second in scoring with a 12.375 scoring average. Against Yugoslavia, He scored the winning shot at the buzzer to beat the eventual Silver Medalist, which was led by soon-to-be NBA players Dražen Petrović and Vlade Divac 74-72.
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