Rams All-of-Famers

Brent Sand: Football, Hall of Fame class of 2008.  

Brent Sands was part of the 1992 Cornell Rams football team that went undefeated and unfortunately missed the playoffs. Sands was the defensive signal caller and also a co-caption on the 10-0 Rams team. In 1992 Sands had 9 games with an interception, which is still the record for most consecutive games with an interception. Sands earned the Defensive Player of the Year in 1992 after leading the Rams to an undefeated season. In 1992 Sands sent the school records with 9 interceptions, 162 interception return yards, and 21 pass defections in a season. Those states helped Sand to earn first-team all-American in 1992. Sand had an insane 22-6 record from his sophomore year to his senior year. He holds the Rams record for most interception return yards with 273 and most pass deflections with 45. He also finished his football career with 17 interceptions, 235 tackles, and 3 all-conference honors. After graduating, Sands served as Cornell’s assistant football coach from 1993-97. Leading the Rams to the MWC championship in 1995 and the South Division title in 1996. He is currently the assistant football coach and girl’s track and field head at Solon High. In his time at Solon, Sands has won four state football championships with seven state title game appearances, as well as four state top-three finishes in track, including a state championship in 2010.

Gary Blanks: Baseball and Men’s Basketball, Hall of Fame class of 2008

Blanks played for Rams men’s basketball in his first year at Cornell in 1975 before switching to baseball in 1976, finishing his collegiate athletics career playing baseball where he earned Cornell Rams Hall of Fame statues. Blanks had the record for most stolen bases in Cornell Rams history. He made the Conference in 1998 and was also the first African-American captain for the Rams baseball team from 1977 to 1979. After graduation he was drafted by the White Sox and for 4 years he played semi-professional baseball in Chicago from 1979 to 1983.

Abe Tubbs: Basketball, Hall of Fame class of 2008

Tubbs only played 3 seasons of basketball for the Rams and he finished with an insane winning record of 45-22. For the 3 seasons Tubbs played for Cornell, they had 3 straight winning seasons. Which was the first time Rams men’s basketball had gone three consecutive years with a winning record since 1965. His 1994 team is tied for the most wins in a season in school history with 17 wins. Tubbs Ram’s resume is stacked with accolades. He was Co-league MVP and first-team Conference for two consecutive seasons, 93 and 94. He took home the 1994 Outstanding Senior Male Athlete honors with an average of 22 points per game while also grabbing 7.3 rebounds per game as a senior. Tubbs holds the Rams record for the highest field goal in a season at 64 percent field goal percentage. He also holds the second spot for most blocked in a season with 28. He finished his Rams basketball career with 1,240 which is tied for the spot on the all-time scoring leaders.

Kathleen O’Connor: Volleyball, Hall of Fame class of 2023

One of the recent Cornell Rams Hall of Famer, O’Connor was a big difference maker for Rams volleyball during her time. A four-time first-team all-conference, O’Connor is the only player in Cornell volleyball history to win the AVCA First Team All-American, which she won in 2013. O’Connor was also named Conference Player of the Year for 3 straight seasons and won National Player of the Week in the month of October during her senior year. Nobody can struggle to find O’Connor’s name in the volleyball record book, she is everywhere you can look. First, she is the Ram’s all-time leader in points with 2,081.5, kills per set and she also holds the record for most kills with 1,743 kills. She ranks top 5 in aces with 185, she is number 5 in digs with 1,393, and number 9 in blocks with 247. In her four seasons with coach Jeff Meeker, she had at least a total of 400 kills and 500 points. O’Connor is no doubt a Rams legend, she won Cornell’s Female Athlete of the Year in 3 different years for 3 different classes. She also took home the Iowa Conference Freshman of the Year award in 2010. During her time here at Cornell O’Connor helped the Rams to an insane 93-38 four-year record including a 28-4 record in 2013 and a 28-6 record in 2011. From 2011-13 she was part of the Rams team that brought home its first three NCAA volleyball Tournament appearances.  

Sherri Pettiti Cooney: Women’s Basketball and Volleyball,  Hall of Fame class of 2018

A multisport athlete Cooney was a monster in both basketball and volleyball. Cooney was inducted into the Rams Hall of Fame 30 years later after graduation year. Nevertheless, Cooney Hall of ame induction was bout to happen, giving the two first-team All-Midwest Conference honors in basketball in back-to-back years(1986-87, 1987-88). Cooney has an insane Hall of Fame resume, Coonly holds the record for most points in a basketball season with 436 points, also the record for the most points per game averages with 19.8, and most field goals made in a season for the Rams. The 19.8 points average was the 18th national best for scoring. Cooney only played 2 years for Rams women’s basketball and during that time, Cooney led the Rams to two consecutive Midwest Conference South Division championships in 87 and 88. Cooney finished with  789 total points and 352 total rebounds in only 2 seasons, ranking 3rd in an all-time career in field goal percentage, shooting 50.2 percent from the field, and ranking 7th all-time in scoring average in Midwest Conference history with 17.9 points per game. Cooney volleyball career should not be overlooked for basketball success. Cooney’s volleyball team in 1986 holds the record for the most wins in a volleyball season to this day with 29 wins. The two-time volleyball letter winner finished with 259 kills in 1987 which was one shy of Rams record at the time.