The similarities between the UConn men’s basketball program and the San Antonio Spurs organization are uncanny. And it goes beyond the fact that both Steph Castle and Tarris Reed Jr. are on the Spurs’ roster.
Both won their respective first championships in 1999 — UConn “shocking the world” by beating Duke in April, the Spurs upending the Knicks a couple of months later.
Both went to their respective championship games this past season — UConn falling to Michigan in the national title game, San Antonio losing to those same Knicks in June.
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Those title appearances bookended seven trips to the finals for both programs over the past 26 years. One small difference: UConn won six of those trips, the Spurs “only” five.
Either way, they are two of the most decorated and respected organizations in all of sports, guided by a championship culture instilled by Hall of Fame coaches and great players. Now, add Castle and Reed to that list.
And add Charlie Stevens, as well.
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Stevens spent the past five seasons in various roles in the Spurs’ front office and helped scout Castle and Reed, each of whom wound up as first-round draft picks.
“UConn was always a program we knew needed to be buttoned-up on,” Stevens recalled. “We knew those guys mentally would be ready for the challenges they’d face in San Antonio. And quite frankly, there aren’t many programs in the country, if any, that are battle-testing their guys as much as UConn is.”
New UConn men’s basketball general manager Charlie Stevens.
Courtesy of UConn Athletics
It was enough to convince Stevens to leave the Spurs, essentially passing Reed through the door on his way out, to join UConn as its men’s basketball general manager. He began the job on Sept. 1.
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“I never envisioned leaving San Antonio,” Stevens told CT Insider earlier this week, prior to the Huskies’ exhibition bout at Michigan State. “I was really happy there, loved the role, loved the people I worked with. This was one of very few places I’d really consider leaving for.”
Tom Moore, the longtime UConn assistant, had assumed the new GM position for this past season but let it be known to Dan Hurley that it was just a one-year thing. Once the season ended with the loss to Michigan, UConn’s search for a new GM quickly focused on Stevens, thanks in large part to his longtime kinship with associate head coach Kimani Young, who coached both Stevens and his brother, Henry, in AAU ball.
“The way Coach Hurley described the role to me, it overlapped with a lot of the stuff I was used to doing in San Antonio,” Stevens noted, “whether that was grassroots scouting, college scouting, off-court player development, a wide array of topics I had gotten comfortable with in San Antonio and knew could translate to the college level, as well.”
After about a three-month process, Hurley called him on a Monday in August to offer the job. Stevens quickly accepted. Only one issue: Stevens, 28, was getting married that Saturday, and he and his fiancee Michaela were heading to Spain afterwards for their honeymoon.
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“‘Coach, if I cancel this honeymoon, I might not be married for very long,'” Stevens told Hurley. “He was great about it.”
The honeymoon is now over, in more ways than one. Since his return from Spain, the newly-married Stevens has hit the ground running. And the air, for that matter. A frenetic September featured official visits from numerous five-star prospects, along with several recruiting trips around the country.
New UConn men’s basketball general manager Charlie Stevens, right, chats at courtside prior to the Huskies’ exhibition win at Michigan State.
David Borges/Hearst CT Media
It’s all proven quite fruitful. UConn has emerged with commitments from a pair of national top-15 recruits, guards NaVorro Bowman Jr. and Jordan Page. The Huskies currently boast the No. 2 recruiting class in the nation, per 247Sports.com, and are the only program so far with two 2027 five-star commits.
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“We’re really happy with it,” Stevens said on Tuesday, shortly after meeting the team in East Lansing, Mich. after a recruiting trip to Minnesota. “They’re guys that really fit what we do.”
As GM, Stevens is on every recruiting trip and at every campus visit. He deals with the recruits directly, as well as their parents, prep coaches and, in this day and age of NIL and revenue-sharing, their agents. Many of the agents he dealt with in the NBA are also representing high-level high school and college players.
Indeed, Stevens’ new position isn’t all that different from his last few years with the Spurs, when he worked as a grassroots and college scout but also dealt with off-court player development — working with players and their families to make sure everything is taken care of off the court so they can focus on their on-court performance.
“In this climate of college sports, we have to look at the kid in a holistic approach: oncourt, off-court performance, mental performance, weight room, medical,” said Stevens, who is earning $350,000 per year. “All that stuff factors in not only to roster acquisition, who we’re bringing in, but also player development.”
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‘Allergic to 2’s’
A Bronx native, Stevens attended York Prep School on Manhattan’s Upper West Side, then played three seasons at Clark University in Worcester. His senior season got wiped out by the COVID-19 pandemic, and he jokes that he’s still got a year of eligibility in his back pocket.
A self-described “standstill shooter who could occasionally sit down and guard when my legs would agree with me,” Stevens averaged 4.4 points per game over his three years at Clark. He spent just about all of his 878 minutes of action beyond the 3-point line: 61 of his 73 career field goals and 160 of his 191 attempts were from 3. As a junior, he shot 38.6 percent (39-for-101) from 3 while going just 4-for-10 from inside the arc.
“I was allergic to 2’s,” he quipped. “I knew my role. I shot a lot of 3’s, defended when I could. But I wasn’t more than a glue guy on any team I played on.”
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San Antonio Spurs assistant coach Brett Brown talks to San Antonio Spurs player engagement and grassroots scouting coordinator Charlie Stevens during shootaround before the game against the Detroit Pistons at Little Caesar’s Arena in Detroit, Michigan Tuesday, March 25, 2025.
Courtesy of San Antonio Spurs
Has that penchant for hoisting up 3’s seeped into his analytical philosophy as a GM? Not really.
“Of course you’re always looking for guys with a mature shot diet,” Stevens noted. “But these are 17, 18-year-olds. Part of our job is to improve whatever deficiencies they have once they get here.”
When his senior season got banged by the pandemic, he did some remote video work for Ironi Ziona Basketball Club in Tel Aviv, as well as Excel Sports Management and New Heights NYC. After graduating, he joined the Spurs as an intern for two seasons.
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In 2023, Stevens was elevated to a hybrid role of Grassroots Scouting & Player Engagement Coordinator. He continued to scout college players, as well, and spent plenty of time in Storrs scouting Castle and Reed, among others.
Charlie Stevens left a job he loved with San Antonio Spurs to become UConn men’s basketball team’s general manager.
David Borges/Hearst CT Media
“There’s going to be learning curves for every rookie,” Stevens noted. “Coming from a program like this, it eliminates some of the learning curves that some rookies come in with. We felt really comfortable that those guys would hit the ground running, similar to what Steph did in winning Rookie of the Year. Tarris has had a heck of a preseason and will be able to provide real impactful minutes for San Antonio in Year One. We always kind of gravitated towards UConn guys.”
And now, Charlie Stevens is a UConn guy — to the surprise of perhaps no one more than himself.
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“I knew I wanted to pursue the NBA front office side. There was zero part of me that thought I’d ever work in college, if I’m being honest. This was really the only place I would have ever considered.”
Less than two months into the job, he’s been impressed with what he’s seen from the program and its head coach.
“He’s a lifelong learner,” Stevens said of Hurley. “There are no wasted moments in the day. Everyone follows suit and falls in line. Everyone knows their role, there’s really good role-definition here. The level of intentionality and being able to figure things out, relying on others when needed, but ultimately everyone here is really self-sufficient. We’re all working towards a common goal.”
Stevens’ role as GM will have many aspects besides NIL and roster construction. He’ll oversee the support staff, help with player evaluation and revenue generation, and putting together a schedule each season.
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There is one thing he won’t be doing.
“I have no desire to coach,” he said. “I made that very clear throughout the process. I get a lot of fulfillment on the front office side.”
When he’s not on the recruiting trail, Stevens is at every practice. He’ll be at every game, seated just behind the UConn bench, same spot as Moore.
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Given Stevens’ initial hopes of working in the NBA and his past five years with the Spurs, one might assume his future may lie in “The League.” He’s not looking that far ahead.
“When I started as an intern in San Antonio I didn’t have this grand aspiration of being a GM someday. I think I wanted to put the blinders on, put my head down and see where it took me. I don’t think anything’s changed from that standpoint. I’m really happy with what I’m doing currently. Regardless of how long I’m here, I’m really looking forward to building this thing out and winning at a high level.”