In college basketball, one of the most powerful things a team can have is a strong leader. Every great team in UConn History had one. Think Shabazz Napier or Kemba Walker. Both were able to use their voices and actions to make the team around them better and help their Huskies to national championships. Although UConn Hoops transfer Joey Calcaterra isn’t at the level of a Napier or Walker–nor does he have the time to be–he still has an opportunity to use his voice to help lead a Connecticut squad to new heights in the Dan Hurley era.
The super-senior had a storied high school career in his four years at Marin Catholic High School in Northern California, propelled by his scoring prowess. Calcaterra notched 30 points per game as a senior, which led to his selection as North Bay player of the year. As a result of his lack of Power-6 offers though, the 6’3’’ guard decided to stay in-state for college, going south to the University of San Diego.
After redshirting his freshman year, Calcaterra played in 32 games, only starting five. He chipped in 2.8 points per game in 12 minutes for the Toreros as a role player in their NIT run. He wasn’t terribly effective during the postseason, totaling just two points in five games, as the team lost in the first round to Memphis.
As a sophomore, he saw a significant uptick in his minutes, playing 28 per game and starting all 32 contests. All of his other stats also ballooned, as he finished the year with 11.4 points, 2.8 boards, and 1.8 assists. He had four 20 point efforts on the year, three of them coming consecutively. All postseason tournaments were nixed that year for COVID-19, although this had little impact on the Toreros, who went 9-23 and had already lost their conference tournament game.
In a shortened junior season, Calcaterra set his highest career scoring mark at 13.3, while keeping most of his other numbers stable. He hit double figures in 12 of his 14 games, the most notable coming in a win over Santa Clara, where he notched a career best 23. It was another trying season for San Diego, who went 3-11 and didn’t make a postseason.
In his final year, the guard took more of a backseat comparatively, putting up 8.5 points, a mark below his production in the previous two seasons. Everything else stayed relatively similar as the Toreros spent the season floating around .500. Calcaterra had just a pair of 20 point games, with the latter coming in their final win of the season over Pepperdine in the first round of the WCC tournament.
