Sports » Spotlight

Action Sports Spotlight - Jan Cocozziello

By Brendan O'Reilly
July 22, 2010 Updated Jan 22, 2008 at 9:34 PM EDT

He's never had any trouble scoring.
"Three-pointer! Jan Co-co-zi-ello"
So it wasn't a surprise when the Hartwick guard went over the one-thousand point mark in just his junior season.
Cocozziello says, "I had no idea three years ago it was going to happen. I just came in. I just wanted to play basketball and a thousand was far out of my mind. To do it is a really big accomplishment."
Coach Paul Culbo says, "He has a chance probably to finish as the leading scorer in the history of the school and there's been a lot of really good players that have come through here but he's a special player. I know that those guys only come along so often so I'm enjoying my four years with him for sure."
Cocozziello is 19th on the school's all-time scoring list with 1103 points. That's still almost 800 points behind Tim McGraw's school record, but reaching the top isn't what motivates him. He'd love nothing more than to get Hartwick back to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 1996.
"It's not breaking records or averaging a lot of points. It's about winning games and getting to the postseason because I think that's what people look back on 10 years from now. Did he ever go to the postseason? Did he ever win games? Not what scoring records and what individual records that he had."
Should he keep his pace going, Cocozziello should be able to reach all of his milestones. In Oneonta, Justin Horowitz, Action Sports.

To submit a comment on this article, your email address is required. We respect your privacy and your email will not be visible to others nor will it be added to any email lists.