Staten Island Sports Hall of Fame
Relive It All Again
Fred Ragucci, a two-time all-city defensive end at Monsignor Farrell High School, went on to Penn State, where he had two sacks, three solo tackles and a fumble recovery in his first game against Miami, and played in four bowl games.
In his five seasons as a starter in high school and college, Ragucci’s teams lost a total of six games, and he was the first football winner of Penn State’s Superior Scholar-Athlete Award.
Kevin O’Connor, the longtime general manager of the Utah Jazz, was a leader wherever he played, from Monsignor Farrell High School to Belmont Abbey College, where he was captain of a team that went 21-5.
O’Connor coached at VMI, Colorado and UCLA, where he was Larry Brown’s top assistant on the team that went to the 1980 national championship game, and an NBA scout and personnel director for Utah before taking charge of the Jazz.
Sudsy Monchik, a five-time Pro Racquetball champion, won the U.S. Open championship in 1996, 1998 and 2001, and was ranked No. 1 in the world in 1996, 1997, 1999, 2000 and 2001.
Monchik, the only racquetball player to win national titles in both singles and doubles at every age group from 8 to 18, was also a national high school champion, and a double gold medalist at the 1995 Pan Am Games.
Ray Rudolph was an all-around athlete at Tottenville High School – good enough to be drafted by the Milwaukee Brewers, and help take Adelphi to the NCAA Division II basketball tournament – before earning a spot on the United States team handball squad.
Rudolph won gold and silver in back-to-back U.S. Olympic Festivals, made the national team, and played in 70 international matches before the U.S. opted to boycott the 1980 Olympic Games.
John “Sonny” Ruberto, a two-time all-city catcher at Curtis High School, made it to the major leagues as a player with the 1969 Padres and 1972 Reds, and as a coach with the 1977 and 1978 Cardinals.
In between, he played all nine positions in a minor-league game; was a manager at 24; threw out 22 consecutive baserunners; and accounted for all three outs in an inning, throwing out two runners and picking the third off base.