Art Shapiro, aka “RT Shap,” fondly remembers his years as an undergraduate at the State University of New York at New Paltz. Among this many memories: “Waking up at 8 am five days a week to the sounds of jackhammers, machines and shouts as workers built the SUB near Capen Hall my first year on campus,” Shapiro recalls. “I also remember the all you can eat meals at Parker Dining Hall, Chez Joey's, P&G's, Plaza Diner and mud around Capen and Bouton Halls.”
A 1975 New Paltz graduate with a degree in Mathematics, Shapiro played four years of basketball and three years of baseball. He ended his career serving as an assistant basketball coach for the Hawks for two seasons. Shapiro capably balanced the academic and athletic workload and came away from his experiences saying, “All the hard work was worth it because my years on campus were some of the best years of my life.”
Even though Shapiro did not play high school basketball, he was thrilled when former head coach Joe Donovan asked him to stay on the freshman team in 1970 as the 12th man. After playing on the junior varsity team in the 1971-72 season, Shapiro earned a spot on the varsity team his final two years where he was a capable point guard.
“Our first game was on the road at Oneonta,” Shapiro recalls. “I never got off the bench into the game! For the next four years I played in every game. I played junior varsity in 1971-72 and learned a lot about how to play the game. During my years at New Paltz, I played varsity for coach [Sy] Pesavento and then coach Donovan.”
From his sophomore to senior years, Shapiro was a frequent starter and played the point guard role well, setting up scoring opportunities for his teammates. In the 1972-73 season, Shapiro set the school record for single season assists (135) and held the career assist record with 235 until the 1990s. As both a junior and senior, he led the team in steals.
Shapiro also played three years of Hawk baseball with some very talented players, but rarely played. He batted 2-for-22 for a career batting average of .091.
“I had a third hit to right field (the only ball I ever hit out of the infield!) that the fielder trapped and I was safe at first, but the official scorer called it an error,” Shapiro recalls. “As I ran to first base, I had a great look at the play, and to this day I know it was a hit!”
His jobs on the baseball team included warming-up pitchers in the bullpen, retrieving foul balls at home games and pinch running for pitchers during speed-up games.
Shapiro’s athletic career followed him far after college, as he coached high school basketball and tennis. He began teaching in the fall of 1979, and then became a coach in 1982. He became a high school math teacher in New York and currently in Portland, Ore.
“At New Paltz, I my excellent teachers and coaches taught me to be prepared in both the classroom and in the gym,” Shapiro says. “This led me to a career as a teacher/coach.”
One of his Shapiro’s coaching dreams came true when one of his players in Queens, Reggie Rasch, played basketball for the Hawks from 1987-90.
Still friends with college companions Alan and Francoise Dunefsky, Shapiro resides in Portland, Ore. He is a retired math teacher enjoying his time playing tennis, golf, and sometimes a little bit of hoops!
