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New York City remains a hotbed of high school sports talent, with students earning college scholarships and some even reaching the professional ranks. The five boroughs are home to Washington Football Team receiver Curtis Samuel (Erasmus Hall), Orlando Magic guard Cole Anthony (Archbishop Molloy) and Olympic track and field gold medalist Dalilah Muhammad (Benjamin N. Cardozo). If you’re hoping to reach the next level in your respective sport and get the exposure of playing for a top program, here’s your guide to the best high schools by sport in the Big Apple.
ERASMUS HALL
911 Flatbush Ave., Brooklyn
Coach Danny Landberg has turned the Dutchmen into the city’s premier program and one of the best in New York State. Erasmus has reached seven straight Public School Athletic League championship games, winning four of them including this season’s. Former Bears quarterback Sid Luckman’s alma mater has produced more than 30 Division I players over the past five years. Erasmus saw receiver Curtis Samuel drafted in the second round by the Carolina Panthers in 2017 and lineman Matt Jones suited up for Ohio State in last year’s national championship game. The Brooklyn school is currently home to senior linebacker Moses Walker, the top-ranked prospect in the state who is headed to Rutgers.
Honorable mentions: Cardinal Hayes in The Bronx has emerged as the city’s top destination in the CHSFL, reaching the Class AAA final four times and winning twice under coach CJ O’Neil. The Cardinals have more than three dozen players currently playing college football, including Army quarterback Christian Anderson and Rutgers receiver Shameen Jones. Monsignor Farrell, which reached this year’s title game, and Christ the King are the other city schools playing at the highest level in the CHSFL. Curtis, Lincoln and Tottenville are perennial powers in the PSAL and Poly Prep remains the top private school program.
CHRIST THE KING
68-02 Metropolitan Ave., Queens
Christ the King has been the state’s dominant program for the past decade-plus, winning six CHSAA city championships and four state Federation titles under coach Joe Arbitello. The Queens school has produced seven Division I players over the past five years, seeing three of them, Kofi Cockburn (Illinois), Jose Alvarado (Georgia Tech) and Ryan Myers (Iona), win conference championships last season. The program has a storied history that features a long list of pros, including NBA champion Lamar Odom and current Hofstra coach Speedy Claxton. The LeBron James apparel school is currently home to freshman Kiyan Anthony, the son of Lakers forward Carmelo Anthony.
Honorable mentions: The CHSAA’s Bishop Loughlin, St. Raymond, Archbishop Molloy and Cardinal Hayes have regularly produced Division I players and St. Francis Prep is coming off its first Diocesan title in 23 years. Loughlin product Julian Champagnie is currently trying to lead St. John’s back to the NCAA. Tournament and former Hayes point guard Joe Toussaint is starting at Iowa. The PSAL has seen South Shore rise to the top of the heap — long dominated by Lincoln, Jefferson, Cardozo and Wings Academy. The Vikings have won the past two PSAL championships and currently have three players from that run at Division I schools, including point guard Kadary Richmond at Seton Hall. Cardozo is home to the state’s second all-time winningest coach in Ron Naclerio and Lincoln has a long pedigree of success that includes former NBA players Stephon Marbury, Lance Stephenson and Isaiah Whitehead.
CHRIST THE KING
The Royals are truly royalty in girls basketball. The program has owned CHSAA Brooklyn/Queens for more than three decades and has also won the most state Federation titles at the highest classification with 15, the last one coming in 2019. It boasts WNBA superstars Tina Charles and Sue Bird as its alumni and saw all five starters from its last state championship team earn Division I scholarships. Coach Bob Mackey’s current squad has two seniors heading to Division I programs in Saniyah Glenn-Bello (Harvard) and Julianna Laguna (Army).
Honorable mentions: Brooklyn’s South Shore has taken the baton from Murry Bergtraum as the team to beat in the PSAL, winning five straight championships. The Vikings have boasted nine Division I players over the past five years, including Ohio State starter Kateri Poole. Their fiercest rival has been Truman, which has earned two straight trips to the final and produced four Division players over the past 10 years. In the CHSAA, The Mary Louis Academy has seen a number of scholarship players come through recently, including Jordan Nixon (Texas A&M) and Danielle Patterson (St. John’s). St. Francis Prep, which is home to Wake Forest-bound guard Skye Owen, is the defending Diocesan champion, having beat Xaverian in the 2019 final.
POLY PREP
9216 Seventh Ave., Brooklyn
The Blue Devils continue to set the standard on the diamond under coach Matt Roventini. Poly has won 13 straight Ivy League titles and nine NYSAIS state crowns. The Brooklyn private school currently has six players committed to Division I schools, including outfielder Devan Kodali (Vanderbilt) and pitcher/shortstop Gio Colasante (Harvard). The program has seen 14 players go Division I in the past five years and had shortstop Anthony Prato drafted by the Twins in the seventh round in 2019.
Honorable mentions: Fordham Prep boasts one of the city’s most famous alumni in former Yankees and current Angels shortstop Andrew Velazquez. It’s consistently in the mix for the Catholic League crown with Farrell, St. Joseph by the Sea, Xaverian and Molloy. The PSAL remains a hotbed for baseball talent at Cardozo, Monroe, George Washington, Tottenville and Grand Street, which produced former Mets and Yankees reliever Dellin Betances. Horace Mann counts Cardinals outfielder Harrison Bader as an alum. Collegiate and Riverdale are Poly’s biggest rivals in the Ivy League.
ARCHBISHOP MOLLOY
83-53 Manton St., Queens
New York City has a number of fantastic softball programs, but the Stanners’ championship pedigree and consistency in turning out Division I players puts them above the rest. Under head coach Maureen Rosenbaum, the Queens school has been the dominant team in CHSAA Brooklyn/Queens. It has won the past four Diocesan titles. The Stanners also have been Catholic city champs seven times, two-time state champions and reached the state final on three other occasions. The program has produced six Division I players over the past 10 plus years, including three in the past five. That includes current senior infielder Angelina Rama (UMass) and former pitcher/infielder Kelsey Carr (Seton Hall).
Honorable mentions: Tottenville owns the most city titles in PSAL history. Current coach Cathy Morano has won 11, with six in a row at one point. The Pirates have a long history of Division I players, including Cheryl Lopez (Fairleigh Dickinson) and Nicole Palase (St. Joseph’s University). Susan Wagner, Port Richmond and High School for C.T.E.A. remain the top PSAL programs trying to chase the Pirates down. Over in the CHSAA, Moore Catholic — which currently has three players at LIU — has taken over for St. Joseph by the Sea as the top program in the Archdiocese. The Mavericks won CHSAA state titles in 2017 and 2018 and were runners-up in 2019. St. Francis Prep, Xaverian and Fontbonne Hall are quality programs in the Brooklyn/Queens division. Poly Prep, Fieldston and Riverdale have reached the top among private schools.
MARTIN LUTHER KING JR.
112 Amsterdam Ave., Manhattan
For many years, it’s been the Knights and everyone else in New York City. The program has won 19 city championships under legendary coach Martin Jacobson. The Manhattan school has a number of players currently playing at the Division I level, from defender Mamadou Diallo and midfielder Ramchwy Saint Vil at St. Francis College to defender Sanoussi Sangary at St. John’s and midfielder Yaya Bakayoko at North Carolina. The Knights’ current roster features one of the top recruits in the country in junior striker Hakim Karamoko.
Honorable mentions: Fellow Manhattan school Beacon is MLK’s fiercest rival, winning the PSAL championships four times since 2006, with the most recent coming in 2016. Francis Lewis, Brooklyn Tech, Madison and Wagner have shown staying power atop the PSAL. The CHSAA has seen its city championship seemingly won on a rotating basis between St. Francis Prep, Fordham Prep and Archbishop Molloy with Monsignor Farrell and Regis constantly competing with the aforementioned elite squads. Fordham Prep currently has defender Luke McNamara suiting up for Fordham University and St. Francis Prep boasts midfielder Sean Paulo Salgueiro at Manhattan College.
BEACON
522 W 44th St., Manhattan
Beacon hasn’t quite had MLK-type dominance on the girls’ side, but it’s very close. The Blue Demons have won eight PSAL city championships under coach Kevin Jacobs since 2008 — the most recent coming in 2019 — and made the final in all but one of those seasons. The Manhattan school recently sent midfielder Mikayla Alcorn to Boston University. Many of the players, because of the school’s high academic standing, opt to play for top-tier Division III programs.
Honorable mentions: Xaverian, which went co-ed in 2015, has become the team to beat in CHSAA Brooklyn/Queens after winning its third straight championship this season. The Clippers have sent a number of players to Division I programs during their run battling Christ the King for Diocesan supremacy. That group is led by midfielder Giana Romano at Rutgers, which reached this year’s Final Four. Saint Joseph Hill of Staten Island won its first Archdiocesan title in 10 years this season. During that time between crowns, Notre Dame Academy won four times and St. Joseph by the Sea took home two titles. Francis Lewis, Brooklyn Tech, Susan Wagner, Tottenville, Bronx Science and this year’s champion Hunter continue to be the biggest threats to Beacon’s dominance in the PSAL. Trinity, Poly Prep and this season’s NYSAIS champ Fieldston have been the elite private schools. St. Francis Prep’s varsity program is unlike any other in NYC, playing in the highly competitive CHSAA Nassau/Suffolk League.
POLY PREP
The girls’ volleyball landscape in New York City has seen many teams moving in and out of the top spot in their respective leagues in recent years, but the Blue Devils remain a constant. Poly has won four Ivy League crowns and three NYSAIS state titles over the past five years under coach Ben Diaz. While Poly isn’t churning out Division I prospects, it consistently has girls playing at the next level in college.
Honorable mentions: St. Francis Prep has long been the standard in the CHSAA as the only city school to win a state title (2013) in the past 20 years. Terriers alum Samantha Juran is the starting setter at Iona College. The rest of the league has risen up around it with this year’s city champion Fontbonne Hall, Mary Louis, and Xaverian each having recent runs as the team to beat. John Jay has emerged to challenge the traditional powers in the PSAL. The Jaguars, who boast Stony Brook-bound outside hitter Kali Moore, fell to Bronx Science in this year’s final. Susan Wagner, Midwood, Cardozo and Hunter round out the public school programs that have enjoyed long-term success. One new option is the chance to play beach volleyball in college, which St. John’s Prep’s Katie Martinez will do next season at Jacksonville University.
BENJAMIN N. CARDOZO
57-00 223rd St., Queens
Cardozo has long been the standard for girls track in New York City, with its most famous alums being Olympians Dalilah Muhammad and Deajah Stevens. The Judges have seen more than seven girls head to Division I schools in the past five years, most recently distance runner Sophia Muccini (Clemson) and sprinter Tatiana Martinez (TCU).
Honorable mentions: Medgar Evers gave the Judges some of their stiffest competition in recent years and continues to produce elite talent, including middle-distance runner Jasmin Muhammad-Graham (TCU). They along with Paul Robeson, Brooklyn Tech, Taft and Susan Wagner have been among the best in the PSAL. In the CHSAA, St. Francis Prep, Loughlin and Notre Dame have had continued success. Poly Prep, Trinity and Dalton are the class of the Ivy League.
FORDHAM PREP
441 E. Fordham Rd., The Bronx
The Bronx school has a long and storied history and consistently turns out some of the city’s premier talents — especially distance runners. Fordham, which won the 2021 CHSAA state cross country title, is currently home to one of the top cross country/distance runners in the country in Princeton-bound senior Myles Hogan. It sent cross country star Niall Ryan to Wake Forest in 2020.
Honorable mentions: If there is a 1A to Fordham Prep in the CHSAA, it’s Archbishop Molloy. The Stanners have an impressive resume of producing Division I talent with five in the past five years, including three in the Class of 2019. Bishop Loughlin, Xavier and Monsignor Farrell also have strong programs. Paul Robeson has become a power in the PSAL with some of the city’s top sprinters and relay teams in recent years. Brooklyn Tech, Curtis, Franklin K. Lane and Taft remain PSAL contenders. Susan Wagner is currently home to North Carolina A&T-bound middle distance runner Michael Rodriguez-King.
