It’s roughly a month until the 2024-25 academic year begins and the University of Rhode Island is still filling men’s basketball scholarships. 

The Rams received a commitment on Tuesday afternoon from 2025 point guard Damone King. He’s a Louisville native who will bypass a planned prep year at Hargrave Military Academy and enroll immediately at URI this fall. 

King plans to redshirt and will debut alongside fellow 2025 backcourt commit Barrett Loer. They’ll serve as reinforcements at the outset of the 2025-26 season with the Rams set to lose Albany transfer Sebastian Thomas, Jaden House and, pending a possible medical redshirt, East Carolina transfer Quentin Diboundje. 

More: Rhode Island basketball lands 6-4 guard from Mass. to fill void in backcourt. Who is he?

King is a Louisville native who took an official visit to campus last week. The 6-foot-3 prospect attended a private practice at the Ryan Center organized for the school’s name, image and likeness donors. King announced he would forego his admission to Hargrave on social media and pledged to URI on his Instagram account a couple of days later. 

King claimed recent offers from the likes of Atlantic 10-rival Saint Louis, Youngstown State, Charlotte, North Alabama and Stetson. He earned earlier offers in his recruiting process from Illinois State, Northern Kentucky, Ohio and more. King could have seen his stock rise by reclassifying and following through on a prep year — Louisville, BYU, Murray State and Western Kentucky had all been in contact at some point. 

King played his final high school season at DeSales, an all-boys power in his native city. The Colts finished 24-10 overall, captured a 22nd District title and reached the Region 6 playoffs. King posted a team-high 20.0 points per game, ranked second at 5.6 rebounds and compiled an elite shooting line — 50.6% from the field, 40.9% from 3-point range and 87.1% from the foul line. 

King played his grassroots basketball on the Adidas circuit with Wildcat Select. He returned in July after a late-season injury with the Colts and impressed at the organization’s showcase event in South Carolina. King hit for double figures in each of his five games, averaging 12.0 points on 21-for-46 shooting. 

King and Loer were among several backcourt targets prioritized by URI through the July live evaluation periods. Arness Lawson, Gabe Tanner, Jalen Harper, KJ Cochran, Adriel Nyorha and Kai Shinholster were among the other guards who claimed offers from the Rams after July 1. URI could now turn its attention to the frontcourt, with 2025 forwards like Javon Perry, James Turner, JJ Kelly, Abdou Yadd — King’s grassroots teammate — and Spencer Ahrens among the new names connected with the program. 

The Rams are currently on a week-long trip to the Bahamas and opened with a Monday night win over Calgary. URI breezed, 93-66, at Baha Mar, putting five players in double figures. Western Michigan transfer Javonte Brown hit for 16 points and nine rebounds while St. John’s transfer Drissa Traore collected 15 points and nine boards.  

bkoch@providencejournal.com

On X: @BillKoch25