Photo courtesy of Dave’s Joint.
By David Cordova
In this installment of our series, “The City Game,” as we will be talking about James Monroe Campus, as they are in the midst of a renaissance with their coach and are gaining attention around the city with their play.
This season, there were plenty of high school teams that had plenty of pizzazz, plenty of fight on the court, plenty of grit, and just a winning attitude. There’s plenty of teams that aren’t expected to win, there’s teams that make something out of so little. One of those teams is the Eagles of James Monroe Campus of The Bronx. If you knew the origins of their rise, you would see why they have that hunger.
When you’ve been down for so long and toiled in obscurity for years and years, it feels great to get some recognition. Such is the case for Monroe, who from the start of the season until the end, hit the ground running.
This is the journey of the Eagles.
The South Bronx is the place where hip-hop got started and it is also the place where many got their start before making the big-time, especially in sports and entertainment.
One area in particular in the South Bronx that is very historical for the hip-hop scene is the Bronx River Houses, a NYCHA housing project in the Soundview area that is between various MTA subway lines, such as the 6 train that stops at Elder Avenue, which is a walk away from the projects and the 2 & 5 trains that stop at 174th Street, which is a long walk or a short bus ride on the BX 36 bus.
Bronx River is the place that produced famed hip-hop DJ Afrika Bambataa, and also some great entertainers such as Judy Craig of the R&B group, The Chiffons, and also DJ Jazzy Jay, and also famed streetball emcee, Joe Pope.
But across the street from the Bronx River Houses are the grounds of one of the borough’s most historic high school buildings in James Monroe Educational Campus, which was once James Monroe High School.
The original James Monroe High School opened in 1924, and was a huge building once upon a time where many from the area went and got a good high school education. It is the alma mater of such famous people such as actor Danny Aiello, former District Attorney and current New York Supreme Court justice Robert Johnson, and athletes, including baseball players such as Hank Greenberg and Ed Kranepool, who both played in the Major Leagues for many years, and also Danny Almonte, a former Little League star who was also a standout for the school in the mid-2000’s, and also basketball players such as the late Lennie Rosenbluth, who was a key member of the first-ever national championship team at the University of North Carolina in 1957, and also famed streetballer, Malloy “Future” Nesmith, who scored 61 points in a high school game in 1987, before going on to be a standout on the New York City playground scene in the late 1980’s and going into the 21st century.
The original James Monroe High School closed down in 1997, due to poor academic performance, and the building on 172nd Street & Boynton Avenue now is hone to seven different schools, which includes a night school for overaged and under-credited high schoolers trying to finish out their high school diplomas.
When you get past the metal detectors, you see an old-school vibe in the building. In the hallway on the first floor of the building, there is a plaque which has pictures of famous alumni, and also a case that showcases the exploits of the school’s athletics programs, including the varsity basketball program’s 2002-03 city championship team, in which the Eagles won the PSAL “B” division title and earned a chance to go on to the New York State Federation Tournament up in Glens Falls, a town in upstate New York.
When you go upstairs to the gym, you have to go up to the second floor and it’s a maze and go past another staircase to get into the place where the Eagles do their seasonal work.
Walking into the gym, you’ll see plenty of pictures of the Eagles’ exploits from the past couple of years, as well as a shrine dedicated to the late Brandon Hendricks, a beloved member of the program and a standout who was killed just two days after his high school graduation in the early morning hours of June 28th, 2020.
Since his passing, a local community organization called the Bronx Rising Initiative has named a scholarship in his honor, and awards high school seniors $20,000 ($5,000 per year) in scholarship money to help them through four years of college. Hendricks’ name also has been immortalized in songs by rappers, most notably Columbia Records recording artist, “B-Lovee.” For a time afterwards, Monroe players could be seen wearing t-shirts in his honor, with the words, “B. Diddy,” and the No. 5 on the back as a fitting tribute.
Another unique thing about the gym is the balcony in the gym. Whenever there’s a big game in the gym, it’s standing-room only, with students and people from the community packing the bleacher seats and adjacent areas to the baseline to see the Eagles in action.
But one of the keys to the program is the man on the sideline.
When one thinks of Christopher “Glasses” Salgado, some things that can be said about him is that he is a guy that is big on family and unity and is someone that cares about the youth.
A 2009 graduate of James Monroe Educational Campus, he definitely has pride for his alma mater, which is why he is on the sidelines building the program today. Although Nigel Thompson and Jeremy Howard are listed as the head coaches on the PSAL website, the man they call “Glasses,” has helped tremendously to bring attention to what’s going on at 1300 Boynton Avenue.
When he’s not coaching Monroe, he’s also the commissioner of the high school division at the Watson Basketball Classic, a Nike-sponsored tournament located just a few blocks away from Monroe Campus. Salgado also runs his own summer-league team, Road To Riches/B5 Elite, which is known for their great play on the asphalt.
Whether coaching or running a tournament, Salgado definitely is about spreading positivity and leading the youth to greater heights. Last summer, on August 30th, to be exact, he led his Eagles into the championship game of the Smartball Classic, a prestigious summer league in Harlem that takes place prior to the school year.
In the matchup against their borough rivals, Eagle Academy I, Monroe outplayed their counterparts, banging on the boards, and also getting clutch baskets, which would aid them in the 67-61 victory. Following the game, the team celebrated as if they had won the PSAL championship. However, it was a small step towards something greater. Salgado taught his players how to be a family. When the chips are down, unity will stand the test of time.
The Eagles’ roster consists of a bunch of hard-working and talented players that will be ready to put in work on the floor, anywhere, anytime. In the backcourt, there was the tandem of junior guards Amadou Barry and Muhamed Jaiteh and sophomore guard Mohamed Rashid and senior guard Bryan Baugh.
In the front court, were players such as junior forward Harvin Guevara, senior forward Al-Hassan Jalloh, junior forward Karifala Conde and sophomore forward Jaydyn Coronado.
On the floor, the Eagles were one of the best teams in the borough of The Bronx, as they finished 16-12 overall, with an 11-3 record in the PSAL Bronx/Manhattan 4A division, finishing second to Eagle Bronx.
However, many in the city and in surrounding areas would know just how special Monroe’s team was, as they were able to play in many non-league events, and played against tough teams such as Newark Arts (NJ), Brooklyn Collegiate, South Shore, Cardinal Hayes, Nazareth and Christ the King and Pocono Mountain West. In a sense, the Eagles were road warriors. Wherever they were invited, they played. And they played tough.
Although they lost some of those games that they played, those games were moral victories, because they played tough and lost by close margins. They did end up beating Nazareth, who would be the CHSAA’s regular-season champions and this year’s finalists in the AA division.
As a result of their rise, they would be named one of the few Nike Elite teams in New York City, which means that they were given gear, which contained backpacks, sweatsuits, sneakers, socks, compression shorts, etc. And also, being that they played in the Swoosh Classic on Jan. 6th at Christ the King High School in Middle Village, Queens, they were part of a video montage with all of the teams that played in the event, with plenty of highlights from past games.
Unfortunately, their season would come to a bittersweet end on March 7th, in the second round of the PSAL 4A playoffs, as they lost to South Shore, whom they played back in January during MLK Weekend, also in Brooklyn.
No matter what lies ahead of them, the Eagles are on the rise. As Coach Salgado and his troops get ready to play in summer asphalt tournaments, they will also be in the school gym on the second floor on Boynton Avenue, preparing for the next school year and season that awaits. Their success shows that good things can happen in the Soundview section of The Bronx.
In the next installment of “The City Game,” we will chronicle the St. Peter’s Eagles, the most dominant program in the borough of Staten Island that has continued to have success year in and year out and also represent their borough in the CHSAA.
davesjoint.net 