ECBL's Hartford Shockers Making Their Hoop Debut In Manchester

MANCHESTER, CT — The East Coast Basketball League has arrived in Manchester and north-central Connecticut with a high-octane pro game, area talent and a focus on community involvement.

The Hartford Shockers were formally introduced Thursday at East Catholic High School's gym after moving to the area from New Hampshire for the 2022 season. The relocation to Manchester also sets up a natural rivalry with the Springfield-based Western Mass Zombies.

The ECBL is an independent basketball minor league founded in 2015 with teams operating from New England to the Carolinas. The idea is to showcase some of the finest area basketball talent. As Shockers guard Tylon Smith put it Thursday night, it's "one step below" the NBA G League.

"It's very competitive and it has a lot of star power," Smith said of the ECBL. "It's a well-built league with some very good (former) college players."

Shockers head coach and team owner Donovin Ford-Hayes said players hail from schools like Eastern Connecticut State University, Southern Connecticut, Mitchell College, Quinnipiac and the University of St. Joseph.

The 6-2 Smith is the literal definition of local talent. He played his high school basketball at Kingswood-Oxford, then at Southern Connecticut State University (Class of 2015). He now teaches math at Manchester's Illing Middle School. He came over to the shockers from Western Mass, where he earned Mid-Atlantic Conference Most Valuable Player honors by averaging 25.2 points per game (31.5 in the playoffs), 6.8 rebounds per game (9.0 in the playoffs), 5.8 assists per game and a free throw percentage of 80.5.

When asked about the now-five-minute commute from work to the gym, Smith became a little sentimental.

"This is home and it's good to play at home," he said. "This area deserves to see good basketball and this year we're Bringing it to Manchester. This is a good gym. It has a nice feel to it and I'm looking forward to starting the season."

And once the games start, they rarely get out of high gear. Fortin-Hayes said he'd consider less than 100 points "a loss," and would be happier with game totals near 130.

"This is a very talented team and my goal at practice is see us getting shots off in the first six seconds of the shot clock (which is the NBA 24 seconds)," He said.

He wasn't kidding.

"My style is to encourage and I want to encourage exciting basketball from the fans in the Hartford area," Fortin-Hayes said.

At a shoot around Thursday, league newcomer and former Eastern standout Tarchee Brown said he is trying to channel that perspective.

"I have no idea what to expect," he said while also smiling at the thought of a a lot of shot opportunities. "I played with a lot of these guys and they are talented."

The 6-3 Brown was also relishing the chance to play "home." He played at Rockville High School in Vernon and then at Eastern, where he received numerous Little East Conference accolades. Another key player for the Shockers will be 6-8 Malik Petteway, who was the top rebounder for Western Mass last year. He is also coming closer to where he played in high school — Sacred Heart.

Brown said he likes that aspect of the team.

"It feels good to be playing home at this level," Brown said. "I can't wait to start."

That will happen Feb. 19 at 5 p.m. at East Catholic against the Lehigh Valley Flight.

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For Shockers ticket, merchandise and scheduling information, check out the team's home page on the ECBL website.