Cespedes takes Alternative route

ONE AFTER ANOTHER, a line of PSAL standouts walked into a corridor behind the basketball court at Baruch College to prepare for what was supposed to be an all-star game against their CHSAA counterparts.

There was Leroy Fludd and Rashad Andrews of Boys & Girls, Isaiah Whitehead of Lincoln, Wings’ Justin Jenkins and Jefferson’s Thaddeus Hall. It was a virtual who’s who of the PSAL'S top players from the past season.

In the middle stood a virtual unknown, Stanley Cespedes, a senior guard from Sat- ellite Academy. He was the only student from the alternative league chosen to represent the PSAL at Saturday’s “Battle for the City” game.

“I just feel blessed to have been chosen for this event,” said Cespedes, who scored a team-high 21 points in his team’s 110-91 loss. “I feel like my hard work is paying off.”

Cespedes — the 19-year-old brother of Nazareth girls star Bianca Cuevas — led Satellite Academy to a PSAL Class A Alternative League city championship this season while averaging 26 points and five rebounds.

“I feel honored to be the only player from the alternative league to be chosen for this game,” he said.

Cespedes spent the first three years of high school at Eagle Academy, where he was academically ineligible and, admittedly, spent most of his time getting into trouble. His talents were about to be wasted when Darryl Jones, Satellite's head coach, spotted him at a tournament at Orchard Park in the Bronx.

Jones offered him an opportunity to play at Satellite, a second-chance school for students who have struggled elsewhere. He spent the past three years at Satellite.

Rickey Rivers, the organizer for Saturday’s event, said he picked Cespedes to get a cross-selection of players and because Cespedes is “a talented kid.”