Following a highly productive career at Phillips Andover Academy — where he racked up 1,000-plus points and rebounds at the prep school, Tom Palleschi wore No. 32 his first season on the men’s basketball team at Tufts University and was named NESCAC Rookie of the Year in 2013.
But he has donned No. 2 since returning to the Jumbos lineup after missing the 2013-14 season because of a heart condition and the subsequent surgery that allowed him to continue his basketball career. “When I came out of surgery – I think I was a little loopy – I told my parents I wanted to wear No. 2,’’ said the 22-year-old Haverhill native. “They asked me why and I said, ‘This is my second chance.’’’ The 6-foot-8 center is making the most of his opportunity. A second-team all-conference pick his first season back, the two-time captain averaged 15.8 points, 8.3 rebounds, and 3.8 blocked shots per game in helping power Tufts (23-7) to the Division 3 national quarterfinals.
Second in Division 3 in blocks, he was a first-team all-NESCAC pick.
Q. What’s up with the blocked shots, seven in the NCAA tourney (against Johnson & Wales), and 11 as part of a triple-double against Whitman in December?
A. I take a lot of pride in protecting the rim. I think being a rim protector absolutely helps the entire team. It allows my teammates to be more confident in the way they play defense. If they’re up on a guy, they’re not afraid to get beat because I’m behind them. I enjoy that aspect, it gives my teammates a reason to rely on me.
Q. There are coaches who don’t like their players blocking a bunch of shots, correct?
A. When I try to contest and block one, I’m not going into it with the mindset that I want to hit it into the fifth row. I want to keep it in play and that allows my teammates to continue to play the ball. If you block it out of bounds, yeah it looks cool, but it doesn’t help that much. It just gives the team another possession.
Q. A blocked shot, a made basket, a rebound, which do you prefer?
A. Honestly, whatever helps the team is what I want. If I don’t score at all and we win, I’m happy with that. If I score 25 and we lose, it means nothing. The end goal is to win as many
games as possible and go as far as we can.
Q. Coming off a 13-12 season last year, this team went a long way.
A. It was a great turnaround. It’s exactly what we said at the beginning of the year. We wanted to get into the NCAA tournament and make a run and see how far we could go. We were riding the wave.
Q. Your team had a nice win over Johnson & Wales [101-85, in third round] and then came up a little short against Amherst [86-73].
A. It was real tough. We wanted to go to the Final Four. To even make the Elite Eight, when you look back, is something to be proud of.
Q. Do you expect to build on that next year?
A. Yes. Even though we lose Steve Haladyna (St. John’s Prep) and Ryan Spadaford and Zach Roswold and they’re a crucial part of our team, we have young guys who are ready to step into those roles. Things are looking up. It was nice to go on this run and hopefully we can carry it over to next year and beyond.
Q. You have another season to play and you’re majoring in economics with a minor in finance. What do you plan to do with your major?
A. I’d obviously like to see if I could continue playing basketball overseas or somewhere. But if that doesn’t open up, I’ll look into consulting or heath management of a bunch of different fields. Plus, I interned the last couple of summers with Raytheon.
Q. What’s your favorite place to visit in New England?
A. I like Salisbury Beach. My grandfather built a little cottage there and we go there all the time
in the summer.
Allen Lessels
For full interview, go to bostonglobe.com/north.
