Event is back, revitalized for 25th season
WEST HARTFORD – Pete Higgins, founder of the Greater Hartford Pro-am, stood inside the James A. Calhoun Gymnasium at the University of Saint Joseph on Tuesday, marveling at what his 25-year-old vision had become.
Surrounded by pro-am legends and future stars in the storied event’s new home, Higgins looked over his left shoulder, saw Calhoun standing in the entranceway and was able to reflect on the last 25 years – the many different host locations for the summer basketball event and the struggle to come up with sponsors that would balance costs and keep it afloat.
Looking to bring the event back closer to Hartford to celebrate the quarter-century milestone, Higgins and commissioner Anthony Price needed a big-time sponsor.
One of the coaches in the summer league knew Jeff Flaks, the President and CEO of Hartford Healthcare, and suggested Higgins write him a letter. So he did, and was sure to name-drop Olusegun “Shay” Ajayi, who participated in the pro-am during his time at Trinity College and is now Vice President and Flaks’ Chief of Staff. A few weeks later, Higgins received a call back from Ajayi and soon secured Hartford Healthcare as a major supporter.
“I’m so thrilled to be part of this,” Flaks told The Courant Tuesday. “We’ve always had such great respect and gratitude and appreciation for the pro-am and in this moment we are going to revitalize it and we’re gonna re-imagine it, we’re gonna bring more to it to make it better. But it means a lot. This is about community. It’s about people… What we really want to do in supporting Pete’s vision is to make this the centerpiece of health, wellness, safety and to make it so much more. We’re gonna touch lives and we’re gonna improve people’s health and we’re gonna help people find things earlier. So this is gonna have dividends far beyond what we can even imagine.”
The 25th season will begin in the last week of June and the playoffs will be held in mid-august.
“Our players, going back to Cliff Robinson, Kemba Walker, Ray Allen and Rip Hamilton – all those guys came into the (pro-am) league and played. And I thought it was one of the greatest things in the world,” Calhoun said. “The last couple years we’ve had difficulties getting the site, getting some love. The community needed love – one of the great days of my life, 1999, we
had 250,000 people show up for the parade for the national championship. The greatest thing about that crowd, it represented all of Hartford. I never forgot the great feeling Hartford had that day that its team was so successful.”
The pro-am has continued to build off its roots, with several former players coming back to check it out and offer support. Troy Mckoy Sr., the former East Hartford and South Carolina star, was in attendance with his son, Troy Mckoy Jr., who plays at Massanutten Military Academy and will spend another summer playing in the pro-am.
“I don’t want it to be the best-kept secret anymore, I want everyone to know about the league,” Price said. “I want it to be an opportunity for everyone to see great basketball, for families to come and for the players to develop their game.”
Guy Ragland Jr., a West Hartford native and a rising junior at Cornell University who will play in the pro-am this summer, stood at the podium under the basket and remembered a picture he has framed at home of him with Ryan Gomes, the Waterbury native and former Boston Celtic who was in attendance to support.
Matt Knowling, a rising college senior from Ellington who was the leading scorer at Yale last season, will also be playing in the pro-am this summer, as will St. Thomas More standout and Uconn Class of 2024 recruit Tyler Betsey.
“To be able to play in this, especially in the 25th anniversary, it’s a real blessing,” said Knowling, who grew up going to pro-am games when they were hosted at the Sports and Medical Sciences Academy (SMSA).
West Hartford mayor Sheri Cantor was in attendance as well as Hartford Mayor Luke Bronin and Rhona Free, University of Saint Joseph President.
“This is a great day to celebrate the pro-am that’s been going on for 25 years in our state and to celebrate it’s continuing here in this great facility,” Bronin said. “I’ve felt lucky to be able to go and watch the incredible basketball that is played by professionals and amateurs alike. It’s a great way to expose our young players to some of the best players around and see what’s possible and see the path for how they might get there.
“We are a proud basketball state, this is just one more way to show it.”