Jesse Arnelle

Hugh Jesse Arnelle (December 30, 1933 – October 21, 2020) was an American basketball player and attorney.^[1]

Born in New Rochelle, New York, Arnelle played football and basketball for Penn State University. He led the basketball team to the 1954 NCAA Final Four. He was named an All-American that season. Arnelle was also named to the 1954 NCAA All-Tournament team and the East Regional Most Valuable Player.^[2] Arnelle finished his Penn State basketball career as the program's all-time leading scorer and rebounder with 2,138 points and 1,238 rebounds.^[2]

He was drafted by the Los Angeles Rams in the 1955 NFL draft, but chose to instead play in the NBA. He was selected by the Fort Wayne Pistons in the 2nd round (15th pick overall) of the 1955 NBA draft. He played for the 1955-56 Pistons in 31 games, averaging 4.7 ppg and 5.5 rpg, before breaking his nose in February 1956, ending his rookie season. His NBA career did not continue afterward.^[3]

After professional basketball, Arnelle spent time in the United States Air Force and the Peace Corps. He graduated from Dickinson Law School in 1962,^[4] and in 1969 he moved to San Francisco and took the California bar exam.^[2] Once licensed to practice law in 1971,^[5] Arnelle worked as a trial lawyer in the public defenders office.

In 1987, Arnelle teamed with William Hastie to form the law firm of Arnelle & Hastie, San Francisco, (which later became Arnelle, Hastie, McGee, Willis and Green).^[2] He would serve as senior partner until his retirement from law in 1997. Black Enterprise magazine named Arnelle & Hastie one of the top 12 black law firms in the country in 1987.^[2] He was also Of Counsel to the law firm of Womble Carlyle Sandridge & Rice from 1997 to 2005.^[6]

Arnelle ha formado parte del consejo de administración de URS Corp. desde enero de 2004. ^{[ 6 ]} Anteriormente, formó parte de los consejos de Metropolitan Life Series Fund , Textron Corporation , Eastman Chemical Company , Gannett Company , Waste Management, Inc. , Armstrong World Industries , Wells Fargo y Florida Power & Light . ^{[ 6 ]}

Arnelle se convirtió en el primer presidente negro del cuerpo estudiantil de Penn State en 1955. ^{[ 2 ]} Fue elegido miembro del Consejo Directivo de la universidad en 1969 y desde entonces ha desempeñado diversas funciones en la universidad, incluyendo el Club del Presidente, el Fondo de Renacimiento de Penn State, el Comité Directivo de la Campaña y el Consejo Nacional de Desarrollo de Penn State. Recibió el premio Pata de León, otorgado a exalumnos distinguidos, en junio de 2000. ^{[ 2 ]}

Arnelle falleció el 21 de octubre de 2020, a los 86 años. ^{[ 7 ]}

• Lista de jugadores de baloncesto masculino de la División I de la NCAA con 2000 puntos y 1000 rebotes.

• Estadísticas de carrera de NBA.com · Basketball Reference   
• "Un momento '¡Guau!'" , CBS Interactive, 15 de febrero de 2008
• Estadísticas universitarias de Jesse Arnelle
• Estadísticas de Basketball.com
• Perfil de jugador de REAL GM
• Estadísticas de jugadores en NFL.com