The “Stars of Storrs” added another guard on Wednesday.
Jerome Dyson, who last played for Bonn in Germany in 2021 and is transitioning into coaching, will join the team of UConn alumni in The Basketball Tournament, a 64-team, single-elimination event with a $1 million prize, this summer.
Dyson, 37, joins the newly created team that has already received commitments from Joey Calcaterra, Ryan Boatright, DeAndre Daniels, R.J. Cole and Dyson’s former teammate, Jeff Adrien.
Organized by UConn alum Marc D’Amelio, who runs the D’Amelio Huskies NIL collective, Stars of Storrs will be coached by the program’s all-time leading scorer Chris Smith and his son, Chris Smith Jr. Last week it was announced that two-time national champion Tyler Olander will also join as an assistant coach.
Dyson, 6-foot-3, averaged 14.4 points, 3.9 rebounds and 2.9 assists over his four-year UConn career. He was the team’s second-leading scorer before suffering a season-ending knee injury in February of the 2008-09 season, his junior year, and had to watch as his team fell to Michigan State in the Final Four – still the program’s only Final Four loss. The Maryland native returned and averaged 17.2 points per game in his senior year before going undrafted and signing with the Oklahoma City Thunder D-League team, the Tulsa 66ers, and eventually with the New Orleans Hornets on a 10-day contract.
After being traded and waived by the Phoenix Suns in 2012, Dyson began his international career in Israel and spent years playing in Italy, China, Poland and Germany.
UConn’s team will begin its run for yet another tournament title in the Pittsburgh Regional, which will be hosted at the Petersen Events Center, home of Pitt basketball, from July 19-23. The full slate of teams to play in Pittsburgh hasn’t been finalized, though it is set to include alumni teams from Pittsburgh, West Virginia and Penn State, among others.
D’Amelio posted on X that the team will practice in Norwalk the week before travelling to Pittsburgh and have at least one practice open to the public. Dates and times have not been announced for the open practice.
The team also announced that if it does win the winner-take-all prize, $100,000 will be donated to the D’Amelio Huskies Collective.
The TBT also has regional sites at college arenas in Houston, Indianapolis, Cincinnati, Louisville, Lexington (Ky.), Dayton (Ohio) and Wichita (Kan.). The quarterfinal round is scheduled for July 29 and the “Final Four”…
Click Here to Read the Full Original Article at UConn Mens Basketball – Hartford Courant…