This past Friday, UConn fans received the news they’ve been dying to hear for years. On Twitter, Marc D’Amelio announced that he’s going to be taking point in organizing a UConn alumni team for The Basketball Tournament (TBT).
TBT has been a staple of summer basketball for nearly a decade, a bracket of 64 teams (historically anywhere between 24-97) vying for the trophy and the associated $1 million prize money. The beginning of the tournament is split into regions and the last few games are at a venue that changes each year. 2023’s finals will be held in Philadelphia, PA.
One of the biggest differentiators and excitement factors with TBT is the Elam Ending. After the final TV timeout of the game, the clock turns off, unlike any other form of basketball. Instead of fighting the clock, there becomes a target score, determined by the winning team’s point total at that moment, with eight points added. Whoever gets to the target first wins. The goal of the Elam Ending is to reduce the fouling at the end of games that slows down its flow, allowing for a more natural finish. It’s widely popular and a variation has been used by the NBA in the All-Star Game in recent years.
Notre Dame’s alumni team won the inaugural tournament in 2014, but a four year run by Overseas Elite–a group of the premier Overseas players–took the spotlight away from the alumni squads. Since then, it’s been all college. The past four tournaments have been won by alumni teams fielded by Ohio State, Syracuse, Marquette and Buffalo. This upcoming competition will be the tournament’s 10th edition, but UConn’s team won’t be coming until 2024 since the team takes time to organize.
D’Amelio, the man behind the action, is a Connecticut native and 1991 UConn graduate. He’s a social media influencer and is the father of TikTok superstars Charli and Dixie D’Amelio, who have a combined 200+ million followers on the app. Through the family’s success, that also includes a reality TV show on Hulu, Marc has used his platform to give back to UConn.
With the recent advent of Name, Image and Likeness (NIL), college athletes have the ability to make money off their name in a way that wasn’t at all feasible just a few years ago. In Storrs, D’Amelio led the charge in getting Huskies compensated with his D’Amelio Husky Collective, helping players manage all the complexities of NIL. His next venture for the UConn community is the TBT team, something that fans have been eagerly hoping for.
“I always wondered what it would be like for UConn players of different eras and years to play together,” D’Amelio said. “I also love the fact that UConn basketball will be represented in the summer.”
This sentiment has been shared among many fans–and people were excited when D’Amelio broke the news. The tweet announcing it picked up over 100,000 views, nearly 500 likes and 100 retweets. Garnering that level of interaction during the offseason is impressive and is a demonstration of how amped the fanbase is.
As much hype as there is now, the underlying question remains of what the team will look like. 2022 star RJ Cole and 2006 All-American Rudy Gay have already committed to play, but there are still 10 roster slots to fill.
“My vision is to have a stacked mix of talented UConn alumni,” noted D’Amelio. “I would love to get some of the older guys like Kevin Freeman to put on a uniform. The combination of players is going to be insane.”
D’Amelio also noted his desire for Chris Smith to coach the team and alumni–and champions–Kemba Walker, Jeremy Lamb and Joey Calcaterra to hit the floor together. Although it could be a stretch to get all this talent on the floor, few of the UConn greats still active are in the NBA currently. Especially with Walker’s recent move to AS Monaco and his comparative young age of 33, he’s a prime candidate for a spot. 2014 champion Shabazz Napier is also overseas in Serbia, making him a great option too.
As excited as fans are now, its not unreasonable to ask why it took a decade to get this project in motion. The reality is that there needed to be someone like D’Amelio to take action.
“[I’m] not sure [why there wasn’t a team until now] D’Amelio mentioned. “[The team came together now] because I have been able to use social media to bring together school administration, players, alumni and fans.”
With this and his work in NIL, D’Amelio has been a positive and impactful force on the UConn community.
“I love the fact that this will bring together UConn alumni and fans while also helping current players through our NIL Collective.” said D’Amelio.
Until then, Husky fans will be watching this year’s tournament with the excitement of what’s to come. And D’Amelio’s thoughts on the Elam Ending? He’s not totally sold.
“I’m a traditionalist,” D’Amelio noted. “I like Elam but prefer conventional.”
Traditionalists or not, UConn fans around the world will bask in the experience of getting to see their former Huskies come together for the grand prize money and fight for their rowdy fanbase.
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