Hawk Talk
Making Hoops History
In a home game against Hobart on Feb. 10, 2006, Rensselaer men’s basketball star Tom Schneider accomplished a feat only a handful of Red Hawks before him have achieved. In front of fans, friends, and family members who drove from his hometown in New Hampshire to watch, Schneider became the 12th player in Rensselaer history to score 1,000 career points.
Needing to score only eight points versus Hobart to reach the 1,000 mark, Schneider put up a game-high 27 points, leading Rensselaer to a 75-69 victory over the Statesmen. He finished the game with 1,019 career points.
“I’m proud of the accomplishment,” Schneider says, “but I never went into a game thinking it was my chance to score the 1,000 points — my team always came first.”
Schneider wasn’t always Rensselaer’s star scorer. He began his college basketball career quietly, often as an essential backup player behind more experienced teammates. Last summer, Head Coach Mike Griffin mailed Schneider a box score from a game he’d played during his own college career at Columbia, in which he put up 22 points and 20 rebounds.
“At the bottom [of the box score] it said, ‘Tom, you’re the guy this year we need averaging 20 and 12,’” Schneider recalled during an interview with The Polytechnic.
The letter motivated Schneider to return to Troy and train hard. During what should’ve been a summer vacation, he played basketball daily, and spent three days a week lifting weights and running three-mile circuits.
His hard work paid off on the court. Schneider became the team’s main offensive threat this season, and was named the Liberty League Player of the Year. He finished his college basketball career with a total of 1,099 points and 808 rebounds, and is the ninth highest career scorer in Rensselaer history.
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