Hobart and William Smith Colleges Athletics

An exceptional scholar and a high-scoring swing man on the basketball court, Rob Pisanelli ’00 embodied the ideals of Division III sports. The four-year starter and two-time captain had an illustrious career, ranking in the top-25 on many of Hobart’s season and career lists.

Pisanelli, who appeared in 99 career games and started 90 in a row, graduated first in career minutes played (3,001), second in career points (1,647), career field goals made (593) and career 3-pointers made (182), third in career free throw percentage (.818) and sixth in career assists (228).

As a senior, Pisanelli earned DIII News All-America third team, D3hoops.com Team of the Year honorable mention (a predecessor to the website’s All-America teams) and Upstate Collegiate Athletic Association Player of the Year honors after leading the conference in scoring at 23.9 points per game, which ranked fifth in the nation. He also earned NABC All-District honors, finishing the season with 598 points, the fourth highest season total in Hobart history.

Pisanelli produced five games with 30 or more points in his final campaign with the Statesmen. He was named to the 1999 Otterbein O Club Classic All-Tournament Team after scoring 30 points against the host Fighting Cardinals and 32 points the following day against Oberlin. Pisanelli scored a season-high 34 points against Brockport to earn all-tournament accolades at the 2000 Chase Scholarship Tournament.

As a junior, the two-time All-UCAA selection averaged a team-leading 19.7 points per game and pulled down a career-high 4.1 rebounds per game. Pisanelli scored a season-high 33 points against Division II Roberts Wesleyan.

Pisanelli’s sophomore season began with a bang, as he scored a career-high 37 points in a 101-99 overtime win against Mary Hardin-Baylor in the opening game of the Colorado College Tournament. He finished the season averaging 17.6 points per game, second on the team. At the Block H Dinner, Pisanelli was the 2000 recipient of the Francis L. “Babe” Kraus ’24 Memorial Award as Hobart’s most outstanding senior athlete. He was also presented with the Hobart Basketball Rookie Award in 1997 and the Butler-Ford Basketball Award as team MVP in 1999 and 2000.

Pisanelli excelled in the classroom as well. He earned a spot on the Dean’s List in all four years as well as Statesmen Scholar honors three times. Pisanelli was a Henry C. Hawley Scholar for excellence in economics and athletics.

Pisanelli returned to Hobart as an assistant basketball coach for the 2001-02 season. He went on to earn a master of business administration degree from East Carolina University in 2004 and played professional basketball in Italy.