debrito, a native of cape verde, moved with his family to portugal when he was nine. his family then moved to the u.s. when he was fifteen. after high school, he attended the university of connecticut. he played as a forward on the men's soccer team and finished his four seasons with 43 goals and 59 assists. he holds the school's career assists record and, , is fifth on the career goals list. in 1981, uconn defeated alabama a&m 2–1 to win the ncaa men's soccer championship. he was a 1980 honorable mention and 1981 first team all american honors. the university of connecticut inducted debrito into the school's athletic hall of fame in 1999. he was inducted into the connecticut soccer hall of fame in the class of 2000.