SCSD 2025 Athletic Hall of Fame Inductees Announced
Tony Delgado, Brendan Mitchell and Bob O’Connor
will be inducted on September 15
The Schenectady City School District Athletic Hall of Fame Committee is pleased to announce that 2025 inductees will be Tony Delgado, Brendan Mitchell and Bob O’Connor. The induction ceremony and dinner will be held on Monday, September 15, 2025 in The Event Center at Rivers Casino & Resort. The ceremony will also include a Legacy Tribute honoring the 1958-59 MPHS wrestling team. There will also be a Legacy Flashback honoring the 1940 Nott Terrace High School (NTHS) Two-Mile relay team.
Tony Delgado was a basketball and track & field standout at Mont Pleasant High School (MPHS). He was the 1968-69 Class “A” League basketball scoring champion. He averaged 24.5 points per game as a senior (including non-league games) and scored 20 or more points 23 times in his career, including ten consecutive games as a senior. Delgado’s 1968-69 team advanced to the Section II Class “A” Sectional Final. He set the MPHS single game scoring record with 39 points vs. Connecticut powerhouse Wilbur Cross & future ABA/NBA standout John Williamson. He also set the MPHS season & career scoring records. Delgado was a 1968-69 First Team All-Class “A” League selection, and a 1968-69 honorable mention Prep All-American Basketball player (Sunkist/Coach & Athlete Magazine).
Delgado was also the fifth best scholastic triple jumper in the U.S. in 1969 and was once ranked fourth on the all-time State triple jump list. He set the Section II triple jump record, as well as the Section II Class “A” Meet long jump record and won the triple jump at the 1969 Eddy Meet.
Delgado finished 2nd in the triple jump & 4th in the long jump at the 1969 State meet. His triple jump effort (47’ 11”) surpassed the previous record set by Bob Beaman, a future Olympian. Delgado currently has the 5th best triple jump and the 8th best long jump in Section II history. He was recruited for track & field by several major colleges, including Villanova & Kansas, but instead accepted a basketball scholarship to Siena where he was a Freshman All-Northeast Collegiate Conference selection (freshman were ineligible for the varsity). Delgado won the long jump (meet record) & triple jump at the Upstate New York Small College Championships as a freshman (he participated although Siena did not have a track & field team). He entered the 1972 NBA Hardship Draft. He played pro basketball in Puerto Rico, where he was the team MVP, leading scorer, and an all-star selection in his first year. Delgado is a member of the Greater Capital Region Track & Field and Cross Country Hall of Fame.
Brendan Mitchell was a basketball standout at Mont Pleasant High School (MPHS). His 1979-80 MPHS team won the Big Ten Conference title. He is the all-time leading scorer in the history of Schenectady public schools (1,658 points). He made several area high school all-star teams. Mitchell originally played college basketball at North Carolina A & T. He later played at Potsdam State (1984-1987), where he helped lead Potsdam to three NCAA Division III East Regional championships. His 1984-85 team was the NCAA Tournament runner-up, losing the championship game by one point. Mitchell’s 1985-86 team finished 32-0 and won the Division III National Title. He was a two-time SUNYAC Conference Player of the Year. He once shared the SUNYAC Men’s Tournament record for field goals in a game (14). He was the 1987 SUNYAC Tournament MVP, a 1986 & 1987 Division III first team All-American, and was the 1986-87 NCAA Division III National Player of the Year. Potsdam had a 90-5 overall record during his career and had a 60-game winning streak. Mitchell is a member of the Potsdam Athletic Hall of Fame. He was invited to try out for the USA National Team (for the World Games) and was also invited to the NBA pre-draft camp in Chicago. Mitchell is a member of the Upstate New York Basketball Hall of Fame.
Bob O’Connor was a basketball and track & field star at the original Schenectady High School (SHS). (Although he later excelled in football, SHS did not have a football team when he attended.) He was an aggressive forward who was a key member of the outstanding 1925-26 SHS basketball team (champions of Eastern New York). His team won 26 games but was upset in the semi-finals of the State Tournament by Kenmore, 25-23. He was also an important member of the 1924-25 SHS basketball team that finished 22-3.
O’Connor was also an outstanding shot putter, winning the 1926 Sectional title. He finished second in the State meet at Cornell, losing to the defending champion. He also finished fourth in the discus at the State Meet.
O’Connor attended Stanford and played on coach Pop Warner’s last Stanford football team (1932). He was a reserve right guard who started one game. He was a regular on the 1933 football team, starting at left guard. His 1933 Stanford team handed USC its first loss in 27 games in front of 95,000 people in the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. Stanford tied with Oregon for the Pacific Coast Conference title. That team played in the 1934 Rose Bowl. He figured prominently in many plays. (The Rose Bowl was the premier bowl game at the time.) Stanford finished with an 8-2-1 record and outscored opponents 131-43. O’Connor was also a member of the 1932-33 Stanford basketball team.
O’Connor went on to play in the NFL for the 1935 Green Bay Packers, where his coach was Curly Lambeau. He played in seven Packers’ games (started one game). He played guard, tackle & blocking back in the NFL. The 1935 Packers finished 8-4 (2nd in the Western Division). O’Connor will be inducted posthumously.
A Legacy Tribute will honor the 1958-59 MPHS wrestling team which easily won the Section 2 Class “A” championship. The team was coached by Athletic Hall of Famer Larry Mulvaney. MPHS won nine of the ten weight classes in the Sectional championships. It also had a Sectional runner-up (in the tenth weight class).
Sectional Champions were John Cain, Fred Yanni, Dave DeLorenzo, Jack Keller, Tom Andriano, Bob Ciabotti, Carm Parisi, Joe DeMeo and Dave Jablonski. Don Male was runner-up in the unlimited class. Ciabotti won the Mastriani Award as the county’s best scholastic wrestler. Top overall records for the year included Ciabotti (12-1), DeLorenzo (12-1), Parisi (11-1), DeMeo (9-1), Jablonski (7-1-3) & Cain (10-2). DeMeo is a member of the Schenectady CSD Athletic Hall of Fame.
A Legacy Flashback will honor the Nott Terrace High School runners who won the 1940 Penn Relays Two-Mile Relay Championship of America. Members of this relay team included Reggie Crocker, Tony Giavannone, Rob Russell & Schenectady CSD Athletic Hall of Famer and future Notre Dame standout, Bill Leonard. The team was coached by Hall of Famer Bill Eddy.
The 27th Annual Schenectady City School District Athletic Hall of Fame and Reunion Dinner will be held on Monday, September 15, 2025 in The Event Center at Rivers Casino & Resort in Schenectady.
Please contact Bob Pezzano at (518-346-9297 or by email robertpezzano@aol.com for more details.