SUNY Cortland Athletics

Robert Reidel's steady ascent within the realm of collegiate athletics, from his days as an outstanding Cortland student-athlete in 1952 to becoming a member of the influential eight-man NCAA Executive Committee in 1981, has been marked by excellence every step of the way. "Athletics have been my life," recounted Reidel, who became athletic director at SUNY Geneseo in 1967.

A product of Buffalo's East High, Reidel enrolled at Cortland in 1948. Reidel played soccer, basketball and baseball as a freshman, but concentrated on the latter two sports from his sophomore year on. As a senior, Reidel captained for the Red Dragon baseball squad and earned the Red Letter as the MVP on the 1952 team. Reidel excelled in the classroom as well as on the athletic field. He was named the Outstanding Physical Education Major in 1952 and received the Beta Achievement Award for outstanding scholarship, athletic participation and leadership. Reidel was secretary and president of the MAA, senior class president and was listed in the "Who's Who in American Colleges and Universities." He earned a master's degree in 1958 from the University of Buffalo.

"The opportunity to attend Cortland was one of the most pleasurable experiences of my life," Reidel recalled, while fondly remembering his Achievement Award. "We had so many fine student-athletes as a result of Cortland's selective admissions that winning the award over so many others was truly a satisfying reward."

Riedel played baseball in the Pittsburgh Pirates organization for three years. Between 1952 and 1958, Reidel was a three-sport coach and teacher at Cattaraugus Central and Iroquois Central Schools. He was an assistant professor at Potsdam State in 1958-59, when he began the intercollegiate soccer program there and coached baseball and basketball. He returned to Iroqouis Central from 1959-1961. That autumn, Reidel started at SUNY Geneseo as an admissions counselor and basketball coach. In 1962-63, he became an assistant professor and head soccer coach before focusing his efforts on the associate director of admissions job. In 1967 Reidel became Geneseo State athletic director and his tenure in that role to date is the longest in the State University of New York Athletic Conference (SUNYAC) . Reidel served as the SUNYAC secretary and president. In 1982, he received the SUNYAC Distinguished Service Award for leadership in intercollegiate athletics.