Ángel Santiago
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Ángel "Cachorro" Santiago del Valle (born July 3, 1956 in
Río Piedras, Puerto Rico Río Piedras () (Spanish language, Spanish for ''stones river'') is a highly urbanized commercial and residential district in San Juan, Puerto Rico, San Juan, the capital Municipalities of Puerto Rico, municipality of Puerto Rico. Adjacent to th ...
) is a Puerto Rican former professional
basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...
player who played for 24 seasons in the
Baloncesto Superior Nacional The Baloncesto Superior Nacional, abbreviated as BSN, is the first-tier-level professional men's basketball list of basketball leagues, league in Puerto Rico. It was founded in 1929 and is organized by the Puerto Rican Basketball Federation. T ...
(BSN), competing for various teams, including the Cangrejeros de Santurce, the
Guaynabo Mets The Guaynabo Mets are a Puerto Rican professional basketball team based in Guaynabo, Puerto Rico, competing in the Baloncesto Superior Nacional (BSN), the island's premier basketball league, as part of its East Division. Originally founded in 19 ...
, the Cardenales de Río Piedras, the Leones de Ponce, the
Polluelos de Aibonito Polluelos de Aibonito was a Puerto Rico, Puerto Rican professional basketball team of the Baloncesto Superior Nacional based in Aibonito, Puerto Rico. They won their only national championship in 1986, defeating the 1985 champions Atleticos de Sa ...
, the Brujos de Guayama, and the
Capitanes de Arecibo The Capitanes de Arecibo are a Puerto Rican professional basketball team based in Arecibo that competes in the Baloncesto Superior Nacional (BSN) league. In 2010, the team also had the distinction to play in the Premier Basketball League (PBL) ...
. He won one BSN championship, in 1986, and competed at various international tournaments with the
Puerto Rico men's national basketball team The Puerto Rico national basketball team () represents Puerto Rico in men's international basketball competitions, it is governed by the Puerto Rican Basketball Federation (), The team represents both FIBA and FIBA Americas. Since joining FIB ...
, earning medals at some of those tournaments. Santiago won a silver medal at the 1979 Pan American Games, held in
San Juan, Puerto Rico San Juan ( , ; Spanish for "Saint John the Baptist, John") is the capital city and most populous Municipalities of Puerto Rico, municipality in the Commonwealth (U.S. insular area), Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, an unincorporated territory of the ...
, with the Puerto Rican men's national basketball squad. He also won a bronze medal at the Pan American Games' 1987 edition.


Professional basketball career

As a 16 year old in early 1973, Santiago was signed by the Cangrejeros de Santurce from
Santurce, Puerto Rico Santurce (, meaning Saint George from Basque language, Basque ''Santurtzi'') is the largest and most populated Barrios of San Juan, Puerto Rico, barrio of the Municipalities of Puerto Rico, municipality of San Juan, Puerto Rico, San Juan, the cap ...
, a suburb that lies inside San Juan. He played in 10 games, scoring 25 points, with 11 rebounds and one assist, for per-game totals of 2.5, 1.1 and 0.1, respectively. Over the next three years, Santiago's averages went steadily up, except for a dip in scoring and rebounding averages in 1976. He scored 8.4 points per game, grabbed 6.0 rebounds per game and passed for 0.2 assists in 1974, scoring 13.4 points per game while recording 7.8 rebounds and 0.4 assists per game in 1975, and 9.8 points, 6.0 rebounds and 0.5 assists per game in 1976. The Cangrejeros moved to the city of
Guaynabo Guaynabo (, ) is a city and municipality on the northeastern coastal plain of Puerto Rico. Located west of the capital San Juan, east of Bayamón, south of Cataño and San Juan Bay, and north of Aguas Buenas, Guaynabo is spread over 9 barrio ...
before the 1977 season; Santiago had been joined by another future Puerto Rican league superstar in
Mario Morales Mario Morales Micheo (born November 13, 1957) is a Puerto Rican former professional basketball player, widely regarded as one of the greatest talents in the history of Puerto Rico's Baloncesto Superior Nacional (BSN). Nicknamed "Quijote" for hi ...
during the 1974 season; the pair would play together for five years. The 1977 BSN season began a streak of 17 seasons in a row in which Santiago would average double-figures in scoring, including a stretch, from 1980 to 1989, in which Santiago scored more than 20 points per game during ten straight seasons. During this time, Santiago and Morales, alongside others such as
Georgie Torres Georgie Torres Dougherty (born September 21, 1957) is a Puerto Rican former professional basketball player. He is a well-known former BSN basketball player. Torres broke the record for the most points scored in a career in that league, with ove ...
,
Federico Lopez Federico (; ) is a given name and surname. It is a form of Frederick, most commonly found in Spanish, Portuguese and Italian. People with the given name Federico Arts and language * Federico Ágreda, Venezuelan composer and DJ * Federico Aguil ...
, Angelo Cruz, Ruben Rodriguez,
Jerome Mincy Jerome Alfred Mincy Clark (born November 10, 1964) is a Puerto Rican former professional basketball player who was born to Shelly and Willie Mincy at Ramey Air Force Base in Aguadilla, Puerto Rico on November 10, 1964. He played in the NCAA with ...
, Willie Quinones,
Mario Butler Mario Alberto Butler Graham (born January 15, 1957) is a Panamanian retired professional basketball player. Butler spent most of his career playing in the Baloncesto Superior Nacional (BSN) in Puerto Rico. At , he played center (basketball), ce ...
,
Rolando Frazer Rolando Frazer Thorne (born July 3, 1958, in Panama City, Panama) is a Panamanian former professional basketball player. At a height of tall, he played at the power forward and center positions. He was an inaugural inductee of the Briar Cliff ...
, Jose Ortiz, Julio Gallardo and others became well known celebrities in Puerto Rico. In 1977, Santiago averaged 17.3 points, 7.8 rebounds and 1.3 assists per game in 31 games played with the Mets. He followed that with averages of 18.6, 9.3 and 0.9 in 1978. The 1979 BSN season saw Santiago accumulate 15 points, 7.1 rebounds and 1.4 assists per game for the Guaynabo team. That same year (1979) Santiago earned a silver medal at the
1979 Pan American Games The 1979 Pan American Games, officially the VIII Pan American Games () and commonly known as San Juan 1979, were a multi-sport event governed by the Panam Sports Organization (PASO), and were held in San Juan, Puerto Rico, from July 1 to Jul ...
held in San Juan. Before the 1980 BSN season started, "Cachorro" Santiago was traded to the Cardenales de Rio Piedras, a team in another area of San Juan city,
Rio Piedras Rio or Río is the Portuguese and Spanish word for "river". The word also exists in Italian, but is largely obsolete and used in a poetical or literary context to mean "stream". Rio, RIO or Río may also refer to: Places United States * Rio, Fl ...
. The 1980 season began Santiago's streak of ten years in a row in which he scored over 20 points a game, when he scored 25.8, while rebounding 9.4 and assisting 1.7 times a game also. He followed the 1980 season with a 1981 season in which he posted his highest numbers in points per game scored for his career at 28.7 points per game along with posting his first double-figures average in rebounds at 11.1 and assisting 1.4 times a game. During 1982, his numbers were 23.4 points, 9.6 rebounds and 1.1 assist a game. Santiago was once again traded, before the 1983 season began, to the Ponce Lions, a then struggling team in the southern Puerto Rico city of Ponce. He played with the Lions for two seasons (those being the 1983 and 1984 BSN seasons), again posting stellar per game numbers, at 23.8 points, 8.2 rebounds and 1.9 assists in 1983 and 22.6 points, 8.3 rebounds and 1.3 assists per game in 1984, before, once again, being traded, this time to the Polluelos de Aibonito, in a city just north of Ponce,
Aibonito Aibonito () is a small mountain town and municipality in Puerto Rico located in the Sierra de Cayey mountain range, north of Salinas; south of Barranquitas and Comerío; east of Coamo; and west of Cidra, and Cayey. Aibonito is spread over 8 ...
.


Polluelos de Aibonito era

The Polluelos de Aibonito were building a team that would compete for championships during the next few years when Santiago arrived in Aibonito. In 1985, Santiago contributed with 23.8 points, 8.2 rebounds and 2.1 assists a game for the surging, southern Puerto Rican team, where he shared playing responsibilities with Rolando Frazer and Enrique Aponte, among others. After the 1985 BSN season ended, the Polluelos obtained Criollos de Caguas point-guard Willie Melendez, forming a sort of "big three" tandem in Aibonito which was made up of Santiago, Frazer and Melendez, with Aponte as a major, fourth contributor. The team was now coached by another former member of the Puerto Rico men's national basketball team, Charlie Bermudez. The 1986 Aibonito Polluelos were the first team in the franchise's history to reach the BSN Finals and they won the franchise's first and ultimately, only, national championship by defeating the defending champions, Jose "Piculin" Ortiz, Bobby Rios and their Atleticos de San German in seven games, with a Game Seven final score of 94-92. The Polluelos aimed at repeating as national champions during the 1987 BSN season; Santiago helped the team with 24.2 points, 8.0 rebounds and 2.3 assists per game. The team returned to the finals that year, but this time, they lost. In another close finals, the Polluelos lost in seven games to the Titanes de Morovis that were led by
Wesley Correa Wesley "Wes" Correa Crup (born April 16, 1962) is an American-Puerto Rican professional basketball player who played sixteen years in the Puerto Rican Baloncesto Superior Nacional league, all of them with the Titanes de Morovis franchise. Correa w ...
and
Mario Butler Mario Alberto Butler Graham (born January 15, 1957) is a Panamanian retired professional basketball player. Butler spent most of his career playing in the Baloncesto Superior Nacional (BSN) in Puerto Rico. At , he played center (basketball), ce ...
, with a Game Seven score of 100 to 92 in favor of the Titanes. In 1987, Santiago won his second Pan American Games medal, this time a bronze one. Santiago continued his prolific production numbers during the 1988 season while the Polluelos once again returned to the BSN playoffs: he collaborated with 25.4 points, 8.5 rebounds and 2.4 assists a game that season. For 1989, Santiago averaged 24.6 points, 6.9 rebounds and 1.5 assists a game for the Polluelos, who once again were contenders for the BSN championship despite not winning it (Santiago's old teammate, Morales, and team, the Mets, won it instead). 1989 also marked the tenth season in a row in which "Cachorro" Santiago scored 20 or more points a game, and the last season he did so.


Brujos de Guayama, back to the Polluelos

Santiago then played for the Brujos de Guayama, a team that made another southern Puerto Rico city,
Guayama Guayama (, ), officially the Autonomous Municipality of Guayama (), is a Guayama barrio-pueblo, city and Municipalities of Puerto Rico, municipality on the Caribbean Sea, Caribbean coast of Puerto Rico. As of the 2020 United States Census, 2020 ...
, its home-town. He played 21 games for the Brujos, at a time where his age (33-34 years old) was already starting to make an effect on his playing ability and so his scoring average per game lowered to 16.8, while catching 5.9 rebounds and passing for 1.5 assists per game. In 1991, Santiago and the Brujos made it to the Finals (Santiago returning, the Brujos making it for the first time) where they lost to Jose Ortiz, Eddie Casiano and the San German Athletics in seven games, by a seventh game score of 88-83). Santiago was returned to the Polluelos for the last eight games of the 1990 BSN season, and he scored 14.8 points, with 4.8 rebounds and 2.1 assists per game for the Polluelos.


Rest of career

Santiago returned to the Brujos for the 1991 BSN season. He kept his streak of seasons scoring in double-figures on a per-game basis alive, with 14.1 points a game along with 4.5 rebounds and 0.7 assists, but his best years were by now clearly behind him. In 1992, his averages were 14.3 points, 4.5 rebounds and 1.1 assists per game. Santiago's last season with the Brujos was the 1993 one, during which he scored 7.1 points a game, with 3.1 rebounds and 0.3 assists per game also, after which he retired before the 1994 season, then returning briefly to the Leones de Ponce in 1995. That season (1993) was his first in 18 seasons where his scoring average dipped below 10 points a game. In 1995, he only played in six games for the Leones, with averages of 5.8 points, 3.0 rebounds and 0.3 assists for the Leones. Santiago finished his career with the Capitanes of the northern city of
Arecibo Arecibo (; ) is a Arecibo barrio-pueblo, city and Municipalities of Puerto Rico, municipality on the northern coast of Puerto Rico, on the shores of the Atlantic Ocean, located north of Utuado, Puerto Rico, Utuado and Ciales, Puerto Rico, Ciale ...
. He completed a full season of thirty games, averaging 5.0 points, with 2.7 rebounds and 0.5 assists a game in 1996.


Career in review

Santiago was a one time BSN national champion. He was a member of the exclusive, 5,000 points club and of the even more exclusive, 10,000 points club in Puerto Rico, with 11,287 points scored, and he collected 4,447 rebounds and had 778 assists in 617 regular season BSN games played. He was also a dependable three-point shooter, making 35 percent of the three points shots taken during his career, while also making 54 percent of his field goals attempted and 73 percent of his free throws. His career per-game averages were of 18.3 points, 7.2 rebounds and 1.3 assists a contest.


Hall of Fame

Santiago was elected to the Rio Piedras' sports hall of fame.


See also

*
List of Puerto Ricans This is a list of notable people from Puerto Rico which includes people who were born in Puerto Rico (Borinquen) and people who are of full or partial Puerto Rican people, Puerto Rican descent. Puerto Rican citizens are included, as the governm ...
* Jose Alicea Mirabal - who was signed to a BSN team at age 12 * Eddie Casiano - who was signed to a BSN team at age 15


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Santiago, Angel Living people 1956 births Sportspeople from Río Piedras, Puerto Rico Puerto Rican basketball players Baloncesto Superior Nacional players Polluelos de Aibonito players Brujos de Guayama players Mets de Guaynabo basketball players