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Rhode Island basketball adds another recruit; what he’s expected to bring to the Rams
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
KILLINGLY, Conn. (WTNH) — A Rhode Island man has died after he crashed his pickup truck into a house Wednesday night in Killingly, according to Connecticut State Police.
State police said the 2023 GMC Sierra was traveling westbound on Route 101 in the area of Valley Road when it failed to negotiate a curve around 10:20 p.m. The truck left the roadway and struck mailboxes, a street sign, and a residential structure.
The driver, identified as Matthew James Sherman, 42, of Foster, was pronounced dead at the scene.
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Vehicle crashes into house on Route 101 in Killingly -
Vehicle crashes into house on Route 101 in Killingly
State police said the home sustained “catastrophic” damage. The front of the house was “destroyed,” according to the report, and the rest of the home had structural damage.
The house was searched by Urban Search and Rescue and found to be unoccupied at the time of the crash.
Route 101 between Chestnut Hill Road and Bailey Hill Road was closed for several hours, but reopened just before 5 a.m.
The Collision Analysis and Reconstruction Squad also assisted.
The crash remains under investigation.
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Above: The May 4, 2026, bell ringers, from left, Town Clerk Leigh Carney, Councilor Caryn Corenthal, Councilor Renu Englehart, Sen. Bridget Valverde, Councilor Mark Schwager, and Town Manager Andy Nota. It was 250 years ago Monday, May 4, that Rhode Island took the bold step of announcing its independence from England and the crown. Rhode […]
Which ‘Real Housewives of Rhode Island’ stars want to do Season 2?
Reporter Paul Edward Parker asks cast members of the “Real Housewives of Rhode Island” if they’re up for another season of the Bravo TV show.
Paul Edward Parker
It was in a Rhode Island court that “The Real Housewives of Rhode Island” heated up as a Cranston woman sued the husband of one of the cast members for slander.
The legal fireworks started April 13, when Brian Pontarelli, husband of “Real Housewife” star Rulla Nehme Pontarelli, sued Beth Walker of Cranston in Superior Court, alleging that she violated a confidentiality agreement in another lawsuit by “making public statements and social media posts” about facts related to the earlier lawsuit.
On Tuesday, May 5, Walker fired back, calling the confidentiality agreement illegal and unenforceable, saying that Pontarelli broke it first by talking on “Real Housewives,” and filing a countersuit saying that he made false, “defamatory and disparaging” comments on the “Real Housewives” main show, as well as during a podcast and an after-show live broadcast. She is seeking unspecified damages.
A past affair, current speculation and a national audience feed lawsuit
Walker particularly identifies the April 26 episode of “Watch What Happens Live,” when host Andy Cohen brings back stars from the show, which was taped last year, for further discussion. In this episode, Brian and Rulla talk about how their marriage has survived his cheating with another woman.
One of the subplots of “The Real Housewives of Rhode Island,” which is midway through its first season, is whether or not the affair Brian had is still ongoing. Texts and social media posts by an unnamed woman, whom the cast refers to as “the mistress,” feature in several episodes.
What Beth Walker has to say
Reached by The Providence Journal on Wednesday afternoon, May 6, Walker’s lawyer, Frank L. Orabona Jr., said that she can’t tell her side of the story right now.
“A public narrative has been created around my client, but narrative and facts are not always the same thing,” Orabona said. “As this unfolds, the evidence will tell a very different story.”
Post-show discussion and podcast fuel drama in court
In the April 26 “Watch What Happens Live” episode, in which Walker’s suit says Pontarelli “discussed a romantic relationship … in a defamatory and disparaging manner,” Rulla and Brian talk about his affair with “the mistress,” also referring to her as “the cockroach.”
Walker’s Tuesday filing also served as her answer to Pontarelli’s suit, and she asked the court to toss his claim based on 16 separate grounds.
Among other things, Walker’s filing says:
- “Walker’s speech relates to topics of public concern being discussed weekly to a nationwide audience of millions of viewers.”
- “Any comments made by Walker were truthful, not disparaging, related to matters in the public domain and/or were made in good faith.”
- “As a result of the national publicity of the show, information related to [Pontarelli’s] personal, romantic relationships is public knowledge nationally across the United States and locally in communities throughout Rhode Island; and is otherwise in the public domain.”
- “It is inequitable and unfair to allow [Pontarelli] a national platform to discuss topics to a coast-to-coast audience and prohibit Walker from speaking on the same topics and/or from correcting false information being spread by [Pontarelli] or others.”
- Prohibiting her from commenting would violate the state and federal constitutions’ guarantee of free speech.
No hearings have been scheduled in the case.
Pontarelli’s lawyer, Jessica L. Basso, declined to comment on the case.
This story has been updated with new information.
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