Hall of Fame
As a young man growing up in Monticello, N.Y., Andre Peterson admits he didn’t know where SUNY Potsdam was when the school’s men’s basketball coaching staff began recruiting him.
Once he arrived on campus, however, Peterson, who was born in the Bronx and lived there until he was a young teen, was sold on becoming a Bear despite other interest from several Division II and III schools.
“Maxcy Hall was the best facility I visited,” Peterson said. “I liked the small campus and the close proximity to everything, but it really was Maxcy Hall that sold me.”
Needless to say, Peterson’s decision turned out to be a good thing for the Potsdam men’s basketball program.
Peterson, a 2010 Bears Hall of Fame inductee and 2004 SUNY Potsdam graduate, earned All-SUNYAC honors three times, all-region accolades once and was a preseason All-America selection prior to the 2001-02 campaign. He is the program’s fourth all-time leading scorer with 1,500 career points, including 1,072 in SUNYAC play, which is second in league history.
Every team Peterson played on finished at or above .500 overall and in the conference. He was named a recipient of the Maxcy Molnar award following his senior year.
Peterson is still in high regards with his head coach, Bill Mitchell, who is currently the assistant athletic director at SUNY Potsdam.
“Andre Peterson is one of the best players to play basketball for SUNY Potsdam in the post-Jerry Welsh era,” Mitchell said. “He was a tremendous school citizen during his undergraduate days on campus.”
While it was originally Maxcy Hall that sold Peterson, it was Potsdam’s close-knit, friendly atmosphere that kept the 6-foot-3 forward around.
“To be honest, I didn’t even know where Potsdam was at first,” Peterson said. “When I was here, the campus life was great. I saw everyone a lot, it was easy to get along with people and classes weren’t hard to get to. Everyone around campus was just nice.”
Things weren’t always so rosy for Peterson, however. At one point, he was on academic probation for his low grade point average. It took a scolding from Mitchell in front of the entire team at practice to get Peterson in gear.
“Coach Mitchell used to talk about ‘tough love,’” Peterson said. “We had a lot of guys leave because of academics, so Coach called me out at practice because I was on probation. From that point, I never had any grade problems.”
In retrospect, it seems to be a blessing for Peterson, 30, who currently works as a commercial property and casualty underwriter at Utica National Insurance Group.
“I was five hours from home, so I was able to become very independent,” Peterson said. “I figured out how to go about things by myself. Now I feel like I don’t have to depend on anyone. As an underwriter, everything is about picking up others and being part of a team. My time at Potsdam has allowed me to flourish in the role.”
Peterson is also raising two children, Brandon (6 years old) and Adrianna (18 mos.), with his wife, Kristi, in Utica. He remains true to his basketball roots, as he assists at Mohawk Valley Community College.
For Mitchell, Peterson’s induction is just as much about his personality as it is his basketball accomplishments.
“As great a player as he was here, Andre was, and still is, a great person,” Mitchell said.
