Charles Bonaparte

Armstrong High, Richmond (1965)
Basketball

Charles Bonaparte was a high achieving academic student who participated in a full range of school activities and was one of the best high school basketball players in Virginia. His Armstrong High team won the 1964 VIA Group I State Basketball Championship. This team subsequently played in the National Black High School Tournament in Nashville, TN. Bonaparte was selected to the all-tournament team as Armstrong lost the national championship game to Parker High (Alabama) by a score of 81-79. After being recruited by several Division I basketball schools, he chose to play at Norfolk State University (NSU). Playing with former Richmond high school rival Bobby Dandridge, Bonaparte was a part of Coach Ernie Fears’ high scoring teams that compiled a record of 88-16 from 1965-1969, including the 1968 Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association (CIAA) Basketball Championship. He still holds the single game scoring record for the post-season Portsmouth Invitational Tournament with 59 points in 1969. The Virginian Pilot said in 1996 that “the greatest one-two punch in Hampton Roads basketball history was that of Charles Bonaparte and Bob Dandridge of Norfolk State.” After college, Mr. Bonaparte returned to Armstrong High as a teacher and basketball coach. He was recognized as a highly respected mentor, counselor and community leader. He passed away in 1996 and was posthumously elected to the NSU Athletics Hall of Fame in 2011 and the Richmond Public Schools Athletic Hall of Fame in 2015.