Stars of Storrs, loaded with former UConn men’s standouts, begin chase for a million: How to watch

Former UConn men’s basketball player Jerome Dyson has played for different teams in The Basketball Tournament before.

Now he’ll be able to represent the Huskies for the first time since he graduated in 2010, as one of several alumni on the Stars of Storrs , which makes its TBT debut on Saturday.

Coached by the program’s all-time leading scorer, Chris Smith, the roster of mostly ex-Huskies put together by 1991 alum Marc D’Amelio will begin its run in the 64-team winner-take-all tournament against the Herkimer Originals in Pittsburgh. The five-on-five tournament, like March Madness, is single elimination and presents a $1 million prize to the winning team. The Stars of Storrs added three players from outside the alumni base to bring the roster to 12, though it can include as many as 15 players.

Dyson believes the Huskies, a No. 1 seed in the Pittsburgh Regional, might have an advantage because of the similar blue blood that runs through the group.

Starrs of Storrs, loaded with UConn men’s basketball alums, ready to make TBT debut

“It’s just gonna be our energy, our cohesiveness, we get along great with everybody, we all know each other. I think that’s gonna be one of our advantages being on the floor,” Dyson said. “I’ve played in this before for a couple different teams and it’s always that cohesive piece that’s missing, everybody on the same page. I think we all have a goal to represent our university, what we’ve done in the college level, pro level, it’s all about representing our brand.”

The wide-ranging group of UConn alumni, made up of former players under Jim Calhoun, Kevin Ollie and Dan Hurley, came together to begin practice in Norwalk at the start of the week. They made the trip up to Storrs and practiced in Gampel Pavilion on Tuesday, when Hurley and the current staff came over to reconnect and watch practice, before hosting an open practice Wednesday in Norwalk and bussing to Pittsburgh Thursday.

The group includes national champions in Ryan Boatright (2014), DeAndre Daniels (2014) and Joey Calcaterra (2023), as well as Rodney Purvis, who had to sit out the 2013-14 season after transferring in. A number of players have played or are still playing professionally overseas.

“For me this just has been a special, special time,” Smith said. “It’s about these guys really playing together and trying to do something special.”

Smith, who was honored as a Big East Legend at Madison Square Garden this past season, will coach the team alongside his son, Chris Smith Jr., and fellow former Husky Tyler Olander.

“It’s just your approach. We’ve got to decide what we want out of this,” Dyson said. “Just representing our brand, our university, that’s gonna be something big for us and I think that was the kind of thing that was missing on those (other) teams. I had very talented guys on the team, but it’s about all of the pieces fitting in and understanding what goals everybody’s got. Some guys are gonna come in here because they still want to get signed for next year, this and that, but I think we’ve all got an idea that we want to bring something home to the university.”

The first matchup comes against a team that plays together in the Northeast Division of the ABA (American Basketball Association), and is comprised of mostly players who competed at the college level in upstate New York. Should the Stars of Storrs win, they would advance to the second round on Monday with the Pittsburgh regional final on Wednesday. Dates, times and locations for the quarterfinal round have not been announced.

The tournament’s semifinal round is scheduled for August 2 and the championship game will be August 4, both hosted in Philadelphia.

The true birthplace of basketball?

Herkimer claims to have invented basketball less than a year before Dr. James Naismith was credited with creating the sport during his time as a teacher at Springfield College, then a YMCA training school, in Massachusetts.

Lambert Will, who was nominated as a contributor to the sport at the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame in 2023 but not inducted, is said to have invented the game as a 16-year-old first generation Austrian-American tossing cabbages into peach baskets in a root cellar and later at a local general store in 1890. Will, a volunteer director at the Herkimer YMCA, allegedly submitted the original 13 rules of basketball to the Springfield YMCA for consideration as an indoor winter activity.

The general manager of the Herkimer Originals, Scott Flansburg, is the leader of the Herkimer 9 Foundation, which recently put up a billboard in the town claiming to have invented basketball.

Full Stars of Storrs Roster

General manager Marc D’Amelio; head coach Chris Smith; assistants, Chris Smith Jr. and Tyler Olander

C Ater Majok (UConn 2009-10); SF DeAndre Daniels (UConn 2011-14); PF Elijah Thomas (Texas A&M 2015-16, Clemson 2016-19); PF Jeff Adrien (UConn 2005-09)

PG Jerome Dyson (UConn 2006-10); SG Joey Calcaterra (San Diego 2018-22, UConn 2022-23); SF Kwintin Williams (UConn 2017-19); PG R.J. Cole (Howard 2017-19, UConn 2020-22)

SG Rodney Purvis (NC State 2012-13, UConn 2014-17); PG Ryan Boatright (UConn 2011-15); C Seth Maxwell (Indiana Wesleyan (2018-23); PF Terry “TJ” Maston (Baylor 2014-18)

How to watch

Time: 6 p.m.

Site: Petersen Events Center, Pittsburgh

Streaming: The game will stream for free on the TBT website ( tbtlive.thetournament.com )