Education: Vanderbilt University Graduation: May 9, 1997

Degrees: Biomedical and Electrical Engineering

                                            1996-1997

Senior Starter Vanderbilt University

Team MVP

Vanderbilt Student athlete of the Year

SEC ALL Conference Team

GTE Academic All-American Team (first team)

SEC All Academic Team

NCAA Round of 16

Participant in Intersport 3-point shoot out (top 8 shooters in country)

Leading scorer averaging 12 ppg,

Averaged 4 rebounds per game, 2.5 assists per game

led SEC in 3-point percentage(42%) and 3-point field goals made per game (2.8)

Ranks nationally for 3-point field goal percentage and field goals made

Vanderbilt records: Career 3-point field goals (244) ranks first

Season 3-point field goals (83) ranks first

Game 3-point field goals (6) ranks second

Member of 1000 point club, career points (1214)

                                            1995-1996

SEC Boyd McWhorter Award for Top Female Scholar-Athlete of the Year

GTE Academic AII-American

SEC All Academic Team

NCAA Round of 8

Ranked first nationally for 3-point field goal percentage

Fourth leading scorer while ranking 8th on team for minutes played

Averaged less than one turnover per 22 minutes of play

                                           1994-1995

Sophomore Starter

Second leading scorer with an average of 9.5 points per game

Averaged 4 rebounds per game

GTE Academic All-American

SEC All Academic Team

NCAA Round of 16

Led In 3-point percentage (37%) and made over (2) 3-point field goals per game

                                            1993-1994

Transferred to Vanderbilt and sat out the season due to NCAA transfer rules

                                            1992-1993

Started 26 games for UCLA, averaging 11.6 ppg and 3.6 rpg 

Selected to the PAC-10 All Freshman Team

Scored 20 points against USC

Broke UCLA record: most three point field goals made in one game. Made 6 three point field goals against Ohio
State

Broke UCLA record: most three point field goals made in one season. Made 48 three point field goals in 26
games.

Led the team in 3 point field goals made, attempted, and 3 point field goal percentage 

Ranked second in scoring, steals, and minutes played

                                      High School 1988-1992

Starting point guard all four years

Finished career at Thousand Oaks as the No.4 scorer in California history

The No. 1 scorer among guards-~-totaling 2,798 points

Averaged 26.2 points and 8.4 rebounds and 6-2 assists as a senior

Street and Smith's honorable mention all-American twice

USA Today; All-American twice

Three-time All-State Selection

CAL-Hi Magazine rated top guard in California

CIF Southern Section Player of the Year

CIF Southern Section First Team three years

Three-time Los Angeles Times- Player of the Year

Holds numerous school records in scoring, rebounding, steals, assists, field goal

percentages, free throw percentages for game. single season. and career categories

Holds the county records in scoring and rebounding

First athlete, male or female, to have jersey (#24) retired in Thousand Oaks history

First athlete to earn maximum 12 Varsity letters in four sports; tennis, basketball,

swimming and track in Thousand Oaks history

            Palmisano named Academic All-America

Vanderbilt senior guard Michelle Palmisano has been named to the five-member first team GTE Academic All-America college basketball team.

Palmisano was the only representative from the Southeastern Conference to make the first, second, or third team. She boasts the
second-best grade point average on the first team at 3.99 with a double major in biomedical and electrical engineering and is
Vanderbilt's leading scorer.

Palmisano, who averages 12.2 points per game, led the Commodores to first- and second-round NCAA tournament victories over
Washington and Kansas.

Vanderbilt placed five players on the Academic All-SEC team. Joining Palmisano were Angela Gorsica (4.0 GPA), Lisa Ostrom
(3.39), Beth Ostendorf (3.17) and Nettie Respondek (3.13).

Vanderbilt's Palmisano juggles basketball, tennis, grades

(c) 1997 Copyright Nando.net
(c) 1997 Associated Press

 While pursuing her double-major, she has been a top 3-point shooter for the 11th-ranked Commodores. And as if that wasn't enough to fill her calendar, she decided last fall to walk onto Vandy's tennis team.

 "That is one of my goals -- to compete collegiately in tennis," Palmisano said Thursday. "I was fortunate to do that in the fall and win some matches, which was just a great accomplishment for me not playing in so long. And in two months, it will be time to start winning again."

 That's when her time with the basketball Commodores (13-4) will end, she hopes with the school's first national championship, in time for the last month of the tennis season.

 "It's been understood all along that she's a basketball player first," women's tennis coach Geoff Macdonald said. "We all want to see them go into April."

 The chance at a championship combined with Vanderbilt's engineering school prompted her to transfer from UCLA in 1993 after averaging 11.6 points a game as a freshman.

 The 5-foot-9 guard leads Vandy from 3-point range averaging 41 percent this season. She's also Vandy's third-leading scorer with 10.9 points a game off the bench.

 She also is averaging 3.96 in the classroom this year after winning the Southeastern Conference's Boyd McWhorter Award last year as the league's top woman scholar-athlete with a perfect 4.0 grade point average.

 Maintaining good grades while playing for Vanderbilt isn't easy with 6 a.m. practices and a tough schedule.

 Teammate Angela Gorsica, who trails Palmisano slightly with a 3.86 GPA as an electrical engineering major, said the travel is the tricky part.

 "There's a lot of studying whether you're on a plane or on the bus or in the hotel rooms," she said.

 Joining another team ranked in the Top 15 wouldn't seem like a very smart idea.

 But Palmisano, the youngest of eight children, learned early to go for what she wanted. Her grandfather played in the 1931 World Series with the Philadelphia Athletics. Her father played in the Chicago Cubs' system, and two brothers and three sisters played college basketball.

 "It was just so competitive at home for anything, for attention, just trying to get people listen to you, to hear you," she said.

 In high school, Palmisano's success in both sports made her want to try her hand at each in college.

 She finished as the fourth-highest scorer in California history, and she was the tennis team's most valuable player three of four years at Thousand Oaks High in Ventura, Calif.

 Foster didn't worry when Macdonald asked if Palmisano could play tennis last fall. While coaching at St. Joseph's, he watched Debbie Black play basketball, field hockey and softball.

 "I had a frame of reference for whether or not it could be done. It's very obvious that it can be done," he said.

 Palmisano went 2-4 in singles and was 3-2 in doubles last fall during "B" level play for Vanderbilt. Macdonald said her biggest asset was her emotional intensity.

 After graduation, Palmisano hopes to play pro basketball with her older sister, Teresa, in one of the two new pro leagues. She's already applied to several schools to pursue her master's degree with plans for a doctorate.

 Staying organized is her key.

 "I'm making use of my time is so I can have some free time to sit back and relax for a while, making use of the time, the mood I'm in," she said.

1996-97 Statistics

Overall Record: 20-11

#  Player           Off-Def  Tot- Avg   PF-FD  AT  TO  BL ST

12 Palmisano, M      50- 79  129-  4.2  47- 1  57  40   1  55
04 Hillmon, N        89-166  255-  8.2  72- 2  38  80  17  61
23 Ostrom, L         41- 86  127-  4.9  38- 0  25  39   0  19
05 Redman, P         19- 67   86-  2.8  48- 1 124  75   0  27
33 Respondek, N      38- 74  112-  3.6  75- 0 130 104   6  52
42 Gorsica, A        71-117  188-  6.1  83- 2  33  50 118  14
35 Janky, K          25- 44   69-  2.9  32- 0   8  35   0  10
32 Holmes, J         54- 74  128-  4.1  46- 1  11  38  10  11
24 Hammond, C        21- 26  47-  1.6  30- 0  20  32  17  19
50 Storey, C          4-  4    8-  2.7   1- 0   0   1   0   0
43 Louis, D           8- 34   42-  1.4  23- 0  32  51   1  10
31 Washington, C     10- 19   29-  1.2  27- 0   7  14   2   8
   Team                      114                    6

   VANDERBILT       430-790 1334- 43.0 522    485 565 172 286
   Opponents        474-752 1226- 39.5 558    384 581  85 271

Southeastern Conference Record: 6-6

#  Player           Off-Def  Tot- Avg   PF-FD  AT  TO  BL  ST

12 Palmisano, M      21- 31   52-  4.3  16- 0  26  16   0  20
23 Ostrom, L         12- 21   33-  4.1  11- 0   9  11   0   6
04 Hillmon, N        33- 61   94-  7.8  37- 2  17  31   5  28
33 Respondek, N      16- 31   47-  3.9  30- 0  53  52   2  16
05 Redman, P          7- 21   28-  2.3  25- 1  43  36   0  17
42 Gorsica, A        37- 44   81-  6.8  33- 1  11  20  38   9
32 Holmes, J         26- 37   63-  5.3  23- 1   6  14   5   2
35 Janky, K           7- 13   20-  2.2   8- 0   5  14   0   3
24 Hammond, C         6-  6   12-  1.1  16- 0   8  18   4   8
31 Washington, C      4-  3    7-   .7  11- 0   2   4   1   3
43 Louis, D           2-  9   11-  1.0   5- 0   8  15   1   4
   Team                       48                    2

   VANDERBILT       171-277  496- 41.3 215    188 233  56 116
   Opponents        164-272  436- 36.3 210    139 227  41 123