“I loved listening to Marv Albert,” Schneider, a Knicks fan, said of the team’s famed announcer at the time. “I mean, I would sit in my room and do impersonations of him all the time. When I was young, it was something I always wanted to do.

“My parents bought me a little tape recorder, and I would turn down the volume on my PlayStation 2, my Super Nintendo, and do the play by play for my video games, Knicks games, everything. It seemed, aside from playing, the coolest job in the world.”

That kid is now 22 and he is living in the best of both worlds.

Schneider often pulls a rare double shift as a player-broadcaster. As a 6-foot-7 fifth-year senior forward for Marist College, he is having a breakout season. And when his playing schedule permits, he serves on the broadcasting teams for Marist women’s games on radio, TV and the Internet. He is also a co-host of a sports talk show on the campus radio station, WMAR.

“I’d be interested to see if there’s anybody else in a similar situation,” Schneider said of his dual role. “But I do it because I love it."

Schneider has been broadcasting games since he transferred from Vermont after his sophomore year. A communications major, he has done play by play, color commentary and sideline work for the women’s games.

On Thursday night, he had 19 points and 13 rebounds in the Red Foxes’ 91-85 overtime loss to Siena at home. On Friday, he will work as the sideline reporter for the women’s home game against Saint Peter’s on the Time Warner Cable 6 telecast in the Poughkeepsie area. That kind of versatility is nothing compared with his back-to-back doubleheader days at the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference tournament in Albany last March, when he served as the analyst for the women’s games on WKIP-AM and then played his game later each day.

In 2007, when he was redshirting, Schneider did the color on Goredfoxes.com for the women’s overtime victory against Iona in the conference title game.

“He was terrific,” said Mike Ferraro, then the play-by-play announcer and now Marist’s sports information director.

“You could tell that he was thinking almost like the player that he is, not to mention he brought a player’s knowledge to the game.”

On the court, Schneider said, he has regained some confidence under the new Marist men’s coach, Chuck Martin. He is averaging 16.4 points and 9.0 rebounds while starting every game for the Red Foxes, who are 7-12.

Martin said Schneider’s influence went beyond his statistics.

“I think his attitude toward his teammates,” Martin said, “and the way he carries himself — first one in the gym, last one to leave, concerned about teammates, concerned about what else can I do to contribute to the team — usually is a good indicator on any team that this kid has good intentions.”

Schneider shies away from discussing his team on his talk show. He said he did not think it was appropriate. With his improvement on the court, he said he would like to play professionally overseas.

“But it doesn’t mean for a second that I would stop focusing on broadcasting,” he said. “I just might have to put that on the back burner for a little while.”