Peter Hooley

Classroom

Peter Hooley finished his undergraduate work with a 3.56 GPA as a double major in journalism and psychology. He is currently pursuing an M.A. in Communications. Hooley is a two-time CoSIDA Academic All-District First Team selection, two-time NABC Honors Court awardee and a two-time America East All-Academic Selection. He also was selected the 2014 America East Men’s Basketball Scholar-Athlete of the Year.

Character

Hooley lost his mother to colon cancer in January of 2015. He returned to Australia to be with his mother but came back to UAlbany to finish his undergraduate work because it was his mother’s wish. In his junior season, he missed eight games of the conference season while in Australia. He became a national and international media story after he hit the game-winning three at the buzzer in the America East Championship game against Stony Brook. Hooley penned his own column featured on the front page of the New York Post and made two appearances on ESPN’s SportsCenter. He received the Coaches vs Cancer Inspiration Award at the end of January and was selected by the student body to give the undergraduate commencement speech at UAlbany graduation in May. He was a recipient of the 2015 SUNY Chancellor’s Award and the Upstate NY Basketball Hall of Fame Love of the Game award. He also made numerous phone calls and held meetings with young children dealing with the emotional trauma of a parent’s death at the hand of cancer.

Community

On Jan. 14, 2015, before returning to Australia to be with his mother, UAlbany Athletics and the men’s basketball team put on a fundraiser to help fight colon cancer through the Cancer Council of South Australia. Through the sale of bracelets and donations at the Jan. 14 game against Binghamton, $12,000 was raised in a two-hour span at the game. The total amount raised for the Cancer Council of South Australia eventually exceeded $20,000. Hooley appeared locally on TV and at school functions to spread his message of hope in the fight against cancer.

Competition

Hooley scored his 1,000th career point against NJIT on Feb. 13, his first game since laying his mother to rest the previous week. He is a two-time America East Tournament MVP and the first sophomore to earn Tournament MVP honors since 1999. He also is a Two-time America East All-Tournament selection, two-time All-America East Second Team pick and three-time team captain. He was selected to the 12-player roster to represent Australia in the 2015 World University games this past July and averaged 13.7 points per game and 2.3 assists per game in 2014-15.