Imagine Ryan Boatright and Joey Calcaterra, beloved former Huskies and national champions 10 years apart, swishing 3-pointers in the same backcourt.
Imagine DeAndre Daniels reuniting with Boatright a decade after their national title season, or, perhaps, R.J. Cole hitting Daniels for a corner 3.
Now add several more former UConn men’s basketball stars, even a few legends (Rudy Gay? Andre Drummond?), all coached by the program’s all-time leading scorer, and you’ve got the Stars of Storrs.
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With several talented freshmen and transfers joining the UConn program shortly, there’s plenty of excitement about the Huskies’ present and future. But few schools have such a glorious past, and that past will be highlighted this summer via the Stars of Storrs, the latest addition to The Basketball Tournament (TBT), a 64-team event with a $1 million grand prize.
Organized by Marc D’Amelio and the D’Amelio Huskies Collective, the Stars of Storrs will be coached by Chris Smith and his son, Chris Jr.. Boatright, Daniels and Joey California himself have all signed on to play thus far, and more ex-Huskies will be sure to join in the ensuing weeks.
Teams can have as many as 12 players on their roster, with at least eight alumni from a certain school.
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“We’ll have no problem with that,” D’Amelio promised. “I don’t even think we’ll have anybody outside of UConn players.”
The Stars of Storrs will compete in Pittsburgh’s TBT Regional at the Petersen Events Center July 19-23. The regional will also feature alumni teams from Pittsburgh, West Virginia, Penn State and others.
It’s not known where the Stars of Storrs would go if they advance to the quarterfinals, but the championship finals will be in Philadelphia on Aug. 4.
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“It’s going to be a full-circle moment to be able to put those colors and jersey uniform on,” said Boatright, who’s spent most of his pro career overseas, most recently last season in Israel, then Greece. “It’s going to be fun.”
“It’s something special that Marc and Chris Smith have got going on,” added Calcaterra, who played in the event last summer with Livin’ the Dream, a West Coast-oriented team. “We’re excited for it. They’ve got some good players already signed up, and a lot of UConn legends are going to come back and hopefully play.”
So who might that be? Players can’t be on NBA contracts, so that eliminates recent draftees like Jordan Hawkins and Andre Jackson Jr., or soon-to-be draftees like Donovan Clingan and Stephon Castle. D’Amelio has had conversations with Gay, who didn’t play last season after 19 years in the NBA. If Drummond doesn’t sign with a team this off-season, he could be in play.
No doubt, there will be several guys like Boatright, who just finished their respective seasons overseas and are “ready to rock and roll, because they’re in great shape,” per D’Amelio.
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Niels Giffey could be representing Germany in the Summer Olympics. But if not, he’s a candidate. This past season, D’Amelio asked R.J. Cole if he’d be interested. Cole told him no, the Euro League is tough, he just wanted to get some rest over the summer.
Then, one of D’Amelio’s associates noticed that Cole had filled in the online form to compete in the tournament.
“Are you in?,” D’Amelio texted Cole.
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The Stars of Storrs got started in the most modern of ways: via social media. A poster on X (formerly Twitter) noted, “It’s about time we get a TBT team. Can Marc D’Amelio help?”
D’Amelio, a UConn grad and entrepreneur whose D’Amelio Huskies Collective is a name, image and likeness (NIL) collective that exclusively benefits UConn student-athletes, admits he wasn’t familiar with the tournament at the time. But when TBT reached out to him, it didn’t take long to get the ball rolling.
“A lot of times I say I’m going do something and then people hold me to it — ‘Yeah, I’ll do it,'” he recalled. “The same thing happened with the NIL. No one else was doing something on the collective side, initially … so, I just did it.”
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In fact, if Stars of Storrs win the TBT, $100,000 of the $1 million prize will be donated to the collective.
Labor of love
D’Amelio, CEO of D’Amelio Brands whose family has become famous as TikTok influencers and now star in The D’Amelio Show on Hulu, is the team’s general manager.
“The business, operational stuff , the marketing is right up my alley,” he noted. “The X’s and O’s, we’ll leave to the coaches. But I’m pretty good at networking with the players and building the relationship with TBT, and really creating a brand for the Stars of Storrs in a relatively short period of time.”
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Really, it’s a labor of love for D’Amelio, a 1986 Norwalk High graduate. On July 14, the team will begin about a week of practices at Brien McMahon High in Norwalk, with a possible jaunt up to Storrs for a practice on July 16, as well.
He’s already booked a team dinner in South Norwalk, and hopes to open up a practice to fans and media. D’Amelio also envisions area NBA scouts (Knicks, Nets, Celtics, 76ers) attending some of the team’s practices. Over 60 players have earned NBA contracts after playing in TBT, D’Amelio noted.
“I want to make it fun,” he said. “That’s my hometown. The athletic director at McMahon (John Cross) has been phenomenal as far as rolling out the red carpet for us. I think it’s going to be a lot of fun for fans.”
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So what’s in it for the players? If Stars of Storrs wins the championship, $100,000 will go to the coaches, $100,000 to the collective, and the players will split the remaining $800,000 however they see fit. But it’s a winner-take-all tourney, so no title, no guaranteed payouts to players.
However, D’Amelio has already lined up some donors to help defray the approximately $50,000 he figures the team needs for hotels in Norwalk and Pittsburgh, transportation and other costs (once teams make it to the quarterfinals, TBT takes care of those costs).
D’Amelio has already paid a $10,000 entry fee. Enterprise Events Group, a corporate events company owned by Calcaterra’s dad, Rich, has donated $25,000. Ted’s Bar, the popular on-campus hangout in Storrs, has donated $10,000 and Autograph, co-founded by Tom Brady, has donated $5,000.
If the team is able to raise more than the $50,000 needed for initial expenses, that extra money will be divided among the players.
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Of course, for these former players, the chance to wear those UConn colors again could be priceless.
“It’s going to be a lot of fun representing the UConn Huskies one more time,” said Joey California. “Hopefully, it’ll be an ongoing thing from here on out, we do well and cement our name in that tournament going forward. It’s going to be awesome to be able to play with some of those guys I didn’t get a chance to (play with). All UConn legends, so they’re gonna put a good roster together.”