04/18/06
SUNY Delhi guard earns First-Team All-American
MEN’S BASKETBALL
By P.J. Harmer
Staff Writer
Andy Genao is on the rise.
Maybe that’s why he’s trying to reach the top tier of college basketball.
Sophomore Genao earned NJCAA Division III First-Team All-American honors — according to the website http://www.njcaa.org — after averaging 17.9 points and 7.3 rebounds for SUNY Delhi during the 2005-06 men’s basketball season.
Genao, a 6-foot-4 guard who shot 43 percent from the field (180-for-419), is the fourth men’s player in SUNY Delhi history to receive First-Team All-American accolades.
[an error occurred while processing this directive]"It was shocking," said Genao, who also had 121 assists and 57 steals during the Broncos’ 26-3 season. "Coming from third-team all-conference last year to an award of this magnitude is amazing."
Genao joins Tim Reynolds (1992), Damion Eames (1994) and Aaron Williams (2003) as NJCAA All-American first-teamers at Delhi, giving coach Mike Spisto his first. Spisto, a former SUNY Delhi and Oneonta State standout, completed his second straight season coaching the Broncos and fourth overall this past winter.
"I believe he’s a Division-I player," said Spisto, who spent three years as a D-I assistant with Rider and Albany in between his coaching stints at Delhi. "He has a lot of interest (from D-I programs) and it’s still early."
Genao will try to generate more attention Saturday, when he’ll compete in an NJCAA All-Star game in Tyler, Texas. The game will feature NJCAA players from divisions I, II and III.
"Andy always put in the effort and he’s always the kid to be the one you have to tell to get out of the gym," said Spisto, who added that Vermont and Centenary are among the D-I programs that have expressed interest in Genao. "He came here as a good player and turned himself into a great player.
"Any time we needed a big basket or a big play, he stepped up," Spisto continued. "He’s such a coachable kid and he’s worked hard for everything. He came here with a lot of dreams and accomplished a lot."
Spisto said Bronx native Genao, a Third-Team All-Mountain Valley Conference pick as a freshman, elevated his game in the offseason by lifting weights and working on his shot.
"My freshman year was learning," Genao said. "I got a taste and a feel for it. I worked hard in the summer and we had a great team back. The coaches put me in the right spots, too."
Genao helped the Broncos to a 46-13 record over the last two seasons. As a freshman, Genao contributed to an appearance in the NJCAA Region III championship game, which Delhi lost, 50-41, to local rival SUNY Cobleskill.
The Broncos earned the top seed for the 2006 Region III Tournament but fell, 71-62, to eighth-seeded Corning Community College in the first round.
Genao seems just as solid outside of basketball. Spisto said Genao maintains a 3.68 grade point average and also works on campus as a resident advisor.
"The thing about him is he’s also a scholar-athlete," Spisto said of Genao, who majors in general studies at Delhi. "Hopefully, he’ll be an academic All-American as well because he epitomizes student-athlete."
SUNY Cobleskill sophomore Dee Dee Smith received an NJCAA D-III honorable mention in women’s basketball for the second straight season.
Smith, a 5-9 guard/forward, averaged 14.3 points, 8.4 rebounds, 2.2 assists and 2.7 steals this past season. Smith, an MVC and Region III First-Team All-Star, helped the Fighting Tigers to a program-best 24-5 record and a 13-3 conference mark.
Smith led Cobleskill to a 46-11 record over the last two seasons.
