Hal Cohen was a steady ball handling guard with a nice perimeter jump shot. He was a valuable member of the Syracuse team four four years, as both a starter and as the third guard.

In high school, Cohen was New York state's leading high school scorer his junior and senior years at Canton Central. On December 11, 1975 Cohen established a high school mark for free throw shooting. After practice one day, he started taking his customary 25 free throws to wrap up practice. He made all twenty five, and decided to continue shooting. For the next ninety minutes he did not miss, until Cohen had made 598 free throws in a row. [The world record for consecutive free throws is 1,704 set by Ted St. Martin on February 28, 1975; St. Martin is a professional free throw shooter.]

As a freshman at Syracuse, Cohen sat on the bench behind several talented upperclassmen who also played guard (Jimmy Williams, Larry Kelley and Ross Kindel). As a sophomore he was the third guard on the team. By his junior season, Cohen was the starting point guard at Syracuse, though a three man rotation with Eddie Moss and Marty Headd was clearly established. Moss was the best ball handler and defender, Headd the best shooter, and Cohen the best combination of skills. During his senior year, Moss ended up being the primary starter, with Cohen filling in at the third guard position.

Cohen was outstanding in the classroom, earning second team Academic All American status his junior year. After college, he continued on to medical school in Syracuse. Dr. Hal Cohen has been a respected radiologist in the Syracuse area for over three decades.

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