Rhody Excellence Collective

CRANSTON, R.I. – The Rhody Excellence collective is now being overseen by Cranston-based Coast to Coast Promotional Products, bringing the Name, Image and Likeness-focused collective home to Rhode Island.

The new arrangement – which began earlier in February – brings the group that is focused on NIL opportunities for University of Rhode Island student-athletes much closer to home. Rhody Excellence also announced that URI alumnus and radio personality Stone Freeman is running day-to-day operations for the collective. Freeman will report directly to Rhody Excellence advisory board members Thomas Ryan and David Martirano.

The Rhody Excellence collective, which runs independently from the University of Rhode Island, will have a significant impact on URI's student-athletes.

"I am thrilled that the Rhody Excellence collective will be operating under the guidance of Coast to Coast Promotional Products," Rhode Island Director of Athletics Thorr Bjorn said. "Coast to Coast is a company that understands the importance of NIL and their creativity will be incredibly important as we continue to grow support and inform our fan base of the opportunities associated with working directly with our student athletes.

"I am equally excited to have Stone Freeman serve as the day-to-day contact between Rhody Excellence and our student athletes. Stone bleeds Keaney Blue, and I am very confident that he will help us bring the Rhody Excellence collective to new and exciting levels."

Formerly of Rhody Sports Properties – the Learfield-run corporate sales entity for URI Athletics – Freeman is known to Rhody athletic fans as the play-by-play caller for Rhode Island football games on FloFootball.com and for several men's basketball games on the Varsity Network. He earned his bachelor's degree from URI in 2019 and his master's degree in 2021. He also is a part-time faculty member in the Harrington School of Communications.

In his new role, Freeman will oversee contributions to the Rhody Excellence fund.

"Improving the overall student and student-athlete experience is one of the key strategic goals of our University," Ryan said. "The University has invested an enormous amount of time and money to improve our athletic facilities and programs. Going forward, another critical component of fielding successful URI teams will be a competitive Name, Image, and Likeness Collective.

"This collective is not part of the University and will be focused on basketball at this time. Our goal is to have an NIL fund that will be in the top quartile of all Atlantic 10 men's and women's basketball programs. Please consider contributing to Rhody Excellence."

Individuals can join the Rhody Excellence collective at varying levels of monthly contributions, each of which provides access to various exclusive forms of content and other opportunities. Individuals can also make one-time contributions.

For more information about getting involved with the Rhody Excellence collective, contact Freeman at stone@rhodyexcellence.com.