Luc Sandeler stands near the tunnel for the Massry Center for Business in front of the donor wall. Luc Sandler stands in the entrance to the tunnel for the Massry Center for Business in front of the donor wall.

Home Run

Luc shares how a childhood dream led him to pursue his education at UAlbany. 

UAlbany Student Makes His 'Field of Dreams' Come True

Luc Sandler

The Zelin Family Athletic Scholarship
Michael ’83 and Lori ’83 Nash Endowed Scholarship

As vice president of the University’s Albany Sports Business Organization (ASBO), Luc Sandler did his best to promote fellow students’ interests in “the sports biz” by affording them opportunities to “make new friends and network with industry leaders.” It’s difficult to imagine someone better qualified to advance such an effort: Well before his May 2019 graduation, the Holbrook, N.Y., native had already lined up a position as inside sales representative with the New York Mets.

“I had an interest in sports growing up,” Sandler recalls. “I played outfield for Little League; Dad would take me to the games. In high school, I got a job as a bat boy with the Long Island Ducks” of the Atlantic League of Professional Baseball. He met idols like David Wright, who spent 14 years with the Mets. “I still talk to my dad a lot about sports,” adds Sandler, a summer employee of the Ducks since 2013.    

He furthered his interest in sports at UAlbany, double-majoring in communications and business administration with a concentration in marketing. In 2018, Sandler completed a full-time internship selling tickets and group outings for the Albany Empire Arena Football team – and earning 18 academic credits.    

Last year, the Mets contacted Sandler to gauge his interest in their management-training program, which would lead to full-time work making sales by phone. “I followed up with everybody I met there and stayed in touch. In January, they called me and asked, ‘What do you think about joining our Inside Sales Development Program?’” He accepted the offer.  

Sandler credits the Zelin Family Athletic Scholarship he received in 2018, and the Michael and Lori Nash Endowed Scholarship he was awarded junior year, for helping to keep him afloat financially. “Every bit helped,” says Sandler, who volunteered for such organizations as Big Brothers Big Sisters of the Capital Region and St. Baldrick’s Foundation while earning his degree.