Rising Stars Founder Paul Savramis Embraces Development and Longevity Over Recruiting in Team Building

When asked about the success of the 2026 Rising Stars teams and the overall Rising Stars program, founder Paul Savramis points to one word: longevity.

Every current Rising Stars team has a core group of boys and girls who have developed together since elementary school. Rather than relying on recruiting, the program emphasizes long-term player development, team chemistry, and relationships built over many years.

Paul Savramis points specifically to the program's flagship 16U team, which enters the end of the summer with a 25–2 record against some of the best competition in the country.

"We couldn't be prouder of this group," Paul Savramis says. "This team started playing together at Rising Stars in the fourth grade and has become more of a family than a team."

Multi Sports Athletes: A Formula For Success for the Rising Stars Youth Foundation

When founder Paul Savramis launched the Rising Stars Foundation 30 years ago, after spending a decade running basketball camps around the world, it began as Rising Stars Basketball Clinics.

At the time, basketball was the common thread, continuing the work Paul Savramis had started in 1980 through summer camps and clinics.

We asked Paul Savramis how that focus has evolved over the past 30 years.

TRS: Looking back over the past 30 years, we've seen a definite focus on basketball for both you and Rising Stars. How has that changed over the years?

Rising Stars Goes International

Rising Stars Founder Paul Savramis goes the extra mile in celebrating the foundation’s 30th anniversary.

TCI: We have been hearing exciting news this month about Rising Stars’ 30th anniversary. Can you give us more details?

Paul Savramis: The news concerns a program that has always been a personal favorite of mine, and that’s international travel.

TCI: That is exciting, but not something that’s completely new. We understand you have had opportunities to offer travel since you began Rising Stars 30 years ago.

Paul Savramis: That’s correct. Rising Stars began international programs in cooperation with the Swiss All-Star Basketball programs and the late Charlie McCormick. Charlie brought myself and other members of Rising Stars to Switzerland for eight years. He built the original Rising Stars clinic model into sold-out offerings at popular tourist locations throughout the country.

After 30 Years, The Rising Stars Alumni, Friends, and Families Remain Larger Than Life

Over the past 30 years, Rising Stars has developed an incredible resource that sustains its growth and powers its journey into the future.

For Rising Stars founder Paul Savramis, that journey has highlighted as much meaning for him in what has been built off the basketball court as it has on it.

Paul Savramis always points out that the foundation of Rising Stars is the people behind it, and that includes its board, executive director, national ambassador, and alumni.

“I have spoken about how much Rising Stars relies on its alumni for everything it does day to day,” says Paul Savramis.

“What is just as important for me to emphasize is the friendships that go along with it and that Rising Stars has helped build.”

Those friendships, Paul Savramis goes on to describe, have grown to a degree where there isn’t any area of Rising Stars that doesn’t include a former Rising Star.

“Thirty years is a long time,” Paul Savramis will say when pressed on what this anniversary year means, but he always adds that time has developed a network beyond anything he could have imagined.

New Year Brings New Programs And the 30th Anniversary of The Rising Stars Foundation

The New Year brought a great deal of excitement for Rising Stars founder Paul Savramis.

First and foremost for Paul Savramis was that 2026 marked the beginning of the 30th anniversary of the Rising Stars Youth Foundation.

“I can’t believe that it’s been 30 years,” said Paul Savramis. “Looking back, there are so many milestones I can’t begin to list them here.”

For Paul Savramis, looking back has always been an exercise that helps him look ahead.

“I have seen so many good things happen over the past 30 years, but probably the most meaningful has been the core of leadership that’s grown with me and has become the best part of Rising Stars,” added Paul Savramis.

December Heralds a Spirit of Giving at Rising Stars

The Rising Stars calendar is a full one, with every month showcasing events the foundation offers.

Annual staples include fall and spring tryouts for the winter and summer basketball seasons, along with Rising Stars’ own March Madness, which helps determine the future of its senior class.

Sprinkled throughout the year are clinics, showcase tournaments, and its newest addition, Little Stars, which offers an introduction to basketball for girls and boys in grades pre-K through third.

But it is in December that Rising Stars rallies to bring every family together and demonstrates what the foundation’s meaning and purpose are truly about.

Rising Stars: Michael O’Connell Keeps the Dream Alive

After 30 years at the helm of the Rising Stars Youth Foundation, founder Paul Savramis is never at a loss when asked what areas stand out most to him.

Today, he focused on how being part of a team and having opportunities to learn through sports helps individuals grow. It allows young people to set goals, focus on achieving those goals, and most of all, to have a dream.

Savramis himself has seen dreams become reality, not only for the boys and girls in Rising Stars, but also for himself in building the Rising Stars Athletic Complex. This interview focused on one special Rising Stars dreamer and how the dreams he set early in life continue today.