Smithtown West graduate Pannell excels for Cornell

When Cornell sophomore attack Rob Pannell sees an open teammate, his timing is precise. The Smithtown West graduate won't hesitate to fire a pass from any angle. "If you are a defender, boom! It's too late," Cornell coach Jeff Tambroni said.

But when it came to making his college choice, Pannell, who leads the Big Red against Army in an NCAA lacrosse quarterfinal Sunday at Stony Brook University, wasn't quite so decisive. In those moments, he was an aimless dodger, weaving his way around two colleges and one prep school before finding an unlikely target: the Ivy League.

"A weird recruiting process," said Sean Keenan, who coached Rob as a senior at Smithtown West in 2007 and now coaches his brother James Pannell, a sophomore and one of the best players on Long Island.

Pannell had only one offer before his senior year, from Towson University, so he made an oral commitment. But on his official visit, he reneged. "It wasn't the right fit and I decided to look elsewhere," he said.

By the spring of his senior year, only Quinnipiac offered a scholarship, so Pannell again made an oral commitment. "It was getting late and I probably rushed that decision," he admitted.

He backed out of the Quinnipiac commitment. With the help of his family, particularly his uncle James Metzger, an influential person in the Hofstra lacrosse program with national connections, Pannell decided to explore other options. The colleges weren't knocking down his door, so he applied to Deerfield Academy in Massachusetts and postponed his college decision a year. "The only way I could get in was as a postgraduate basketball player," Pannell said of his last-minute admission.

He played basketball, but it was on the lacrosse field where his scoring skills were noticed and where he set several Deerfield records in 2008. Tambroni was given DVDs that showed Pannell playing as a senior at Smithtown West. The Cornell coach, who wasn't actively recruiting Pannell, was quite impressed.

"Jeff told me Rob was the only kid he ever recruited that he never saw play live," Keenan said.

Now, Tambroni and the rest of Lacrosse Nation see plenty of this artful dodger. Pannell was the Ivy League's Freshman of the Year last season, leading the Big Red to the NCAA Tournament final, a heartbreaking, last-second loss to Syracuse.

"You try to forget the outcome of the game. It hurt a ton and I try not to think about it," said Pannell, who would have faced Syracuse again Sunday had the Orange not been shocked by Army.

"It was the worst feeling in the world. With 20 seconds left we had the ball and the lead and you're at the highest of highs thinking you'd won the national championship. Then, it was the lowest of lows. I refuse to watch a replay of that game."

His play this year has brought Cornell to the brink of a return to the Final Four. In 16 games, Pannell has 74 points, with 47 assists, matching Stony Brook's Kevin Crowley (74 points, 49 goals) as the nation's leaders in points per game (4.63).

"Growing up, my uncle and my parents always told me that assists were just as good as goals," Pannell said. "It got to the point where I'd rather make a nice pass for an assist than score a goal myself. That's the mind-set I brought to college."

Sunday, every point he collects will be cheered wildly by many family members and friends, including the Keenan clan. Sean said his son Ryan had a PAL game scheduled for that day.

"I postponed it," Sean Keenan said. "Everyone in Smithtown will be there to see Rob play."