{"id":499617,"date":"2026-03-02T17:11:11","date_gmt":"2026-03-02T17:11:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/499617\/"},"modified":"2026-03-02T17:11:11","modified_gmt":"2026-03-02T17:11:11","slug":"from-cmu-to-the-main-stage-at-nba-all-star-weekend","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/499617\/","title":{"rendered":"From CMU to the main stage at NBA All-Star Weekend"},"content":{"rendered":"

CMU alumnus Brett Darago, known professionally as DJ Chachi, was recently
\ntabbed by the NBA to work as a DJ for NBA All-Star Weekend in Inglewood,
\nCalifornia, providing entertainment for the annual All-Star Game, Skills
\nCompetition, and Celebrity Game. The 1999 Broadcast and Cinema Arts<\/a> grad is
\nstill in awe over the once-in-a-lifetime experience. <\/p>\n

\u201cLA was so much fun,\u201d Darago said. \u201cI learned a lot from production people
\nfrom all over the world. I also met so many big-name celebrities. I mean, (former)
\nPresident Obama dapped me up and told me, \u2018You did a good job today, son.\u2019 It
\nwas like an out-of-body experience.\u201d <\/p>\n

Darago has been an in-house DJ for the Detroit Pistons and Detroit Red
\nWings for over 10 years. Known for incorporating Detroit-centric music into his
\nplaylists, the Flint native says he\u2019s always wanted to perform and entertain
\npeople, and the spark for his career was ignited during his time at Central
\nMichigan.<\/p>\n

\"ACMU alumnus, Brett Darago, aka DJ Chachi, poses courtside before a Detroit Pistons game. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt was a great place to become a DJ,\u201d he said. \u201cI wouldn\u2019t be doing what I
\nam right now if it wasn’t for CMU.\u201d<\/p>\n

During his first day on campus as an undergrad, Darago visited a job fair.
\nThere, he was hired by a DJ company based in the region. He worked at weddings,
\nrestaurants, bars and clubs, while also DJing on local FM radio. <\/p>\n

\u201cMy first nightclub DJ job was at the Wayside, and then I started working at
\nbars all over,\u201d he said. \u201cThe Cabin, Boomers, you name it, I probably DJ\u2019d
\nthere.\u201d<\/p>\n

He also worked as a sports anchor\/reporter for News Central 34, dabbled in
\nfilm and theater production, and played soccer at CMU. In fact, it was his
\nsoccer teammates who gave him his nickname.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy teammates called me the poor man\u2019s version of Chachi from Happy Days.
\nThe program ended after my freshman year, but I stayed because of the awesome
\nbroadcasting program and how much I loved it there.\u201d<\/p>\n

From a campus job fair to one of basketball\u2019s biggest stages, Darago\u2019s
\njourney is a reminder of where a CMU education, coupled with some maroon and
\ngold grit, can lead.<\/p>\n

Alumni, Alumni Relations & Constituent Engagement, College of The Arts & Media<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"CMU alumnus Brett Darago, known professionally as DJ Chachi, was recently tabbed by the NBA to work as…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":499618,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[64],"tags":[355,99],"class_list":["post-499617","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nba","tag-nba","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/499617","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=499617"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/499617\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/499618"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=499617"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=499617"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=499617"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}