video: Pawtucket’s T.J. Sorrentine Promoted at Brown

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Wednesday, August 31, 2011

GoLocalProv Sports Staff

He grew up in Pawtucket, played at Vermont and on one March Madness Friday night shocked the world of basketball. On the fateful night in Worcester, T.J. Sorrentine was the combination of movie storylines like Rudy, Hoosiers, and Miracle all wrapped up into one game: Vermont v. Syracuse.

Now, a few years later TJ Sorrentine has been promoted to Associate Head Coach at Brown. Sorrentine, who is instrumental in the Brown’s recruiting efforts and on-court player development, has been an assistant coach for the Bears for the last three years.

As an assistant coach at Brown, Sorrentine helped develop several young players, including point guard Sean McGonagill, the 2011 Ivy League Rookie of the Year. His recruiting and player development efforts have yielded five players who were named Ivy League Rookie of the Week 10 times in the last two years.

Vermont Star

He was a 2005 graduate of Vermont with a B.A. in sociology, Sorrentine was a two-year captain, America East Rookie of the Year and Player of the Year, a three-time First Team All-conference player and an Honorable Mention All-American. He was also named to the America East Academic Honor Roll in 2002 and 2003. He led Vermont to two NCAA Tournament appearances (2004, 2005), and hit the game winning three-point basket that crushed the Syracuse Orange in the first round of the NCAA Tournament at the DCU Center in Worcester.

Pro Around the World

After his career at Vermont, Sorrentine played professionally from 2005-2008, playing with Kk Krka in Slovenia, FC Porto in Portugal, Branca Nouvo Trappani in Italy, and the Florida Flame of the NBA Developmental League. He also played in the NBA Summer League with the Miami Heat and Milwaukee Bucks.

Rhode Island High School Star

In high school, he was a standout at St. Raphael’s Academy in Pawtucket, earning All-State honors, while playing for his father, Thomas. He was the Rhode Island Player of the Year (USA Today, Gatorade) in 2000 after leading St. Ray’s to back-to-back state titles.