Rob Pannell appeared on Season 3, Episode 4 of Overtime with Paul Carcaterra, which released Monday evening. In the candid conversation, Pannell opened up about how he felt underrecruited, how is love for the sport grew and how he plans on taking over the Premier Lacrosse League in 2020.
Here are three of the biggest takeaways from the interview.
Pannell initially committed to Quinnipiac before he went to Cornell
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Pannell was underrecruited coming out of Smithtown West (N.Y.), so he took a post-grad year at Deerfield Academy. Along the way, he committed to Division I Quinnipiac. But as he played out the post-grad year, Pannell’s name made its way to Cornell and coach Jeff Tambroni.
“Cornell was the last school of any school to recruit me,” he said. “And they had never seen me play live.”
The Big Red took a chance on Pannell, and it paid off.
Pannell has lacrosse greatness in his family
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James Metzger was the cool uncle. He is also Rob Pannell’s godfather.
When Pannell was younger, Metzger took him shopping. He’d send a limo to the city so he could watch the Knicks. It wasn't until Pannell got to Cornell that they bonded on lacrosse, the sport Metzger starred in decades earlier.
Metzger, the former All-American at Hofstra and current CEO of The Whitmore Group, kept in touch throughout Pannell’s career.
“We spoke before and after every single game in college,” Pannell said. “He would call me, and we would recap.”
Pannell and Metzger strengthened their relationship through lacrosse. Now, it’s a bond beyond an uncle and a nephew.
Rob Pannell, future pro golfer?
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Pannell has always had a passion for golf, but he mentioned to Carcaterra that his love for the sport rivals that of lacrosse. He might not put as much work in, but he has a handicap of 1.
Sometimes, he told Carcaterra, he wonders what could happen if he did put the time into his hobby. But for now, he’s focused on lacrosse.
“Maybe I’ll try to join the PGA Tour,” he said. “Just kidding. It’s a little too late at this point.”