THOMASVILLE, N.C. — The Davidson-Davie Community College men's basketball team is one of the best programs in the country on the Division II junior college level.

In his 16 years as head coach, Matt Ridge has turned the Storm into a perennial powerhouse. Ranked in the top 20 in the nation, this year's team is on track to win the program's 15th Tarheel Conference regular-season championship.

Ridge has 431 wins in 15 seasons, and the team has won eight NJCAA Region 10 championships, including advancing to two national championship games.

That much success has bought exposure to a program that has six players on the roster with name, image and likeness deals.

These NIL deals have been a product of a community that loves the basketball program and what Ridge is doing with the team

"The NIL deals that we have have nothing to do with me, it has everything to do with the businesses in our area that reached out to me that wanted to do some deals with our student-athletes," Ridge said.

One of those student-athletes with a NIL deal is sophomore forward Nygie Stroman.

"Being a JUCO student, there is no housing so a lot of that went to rent, food, groceries, all that stuff," Stroman said.

Ridge says Stroman and four other players on the team were paid to do a commercial for Jerry Hunt Supercenter car dealership, and Ridge signed up with opendorse.com to make sure the players and business deals are aligned.

"They also deal with all the money, so they abide by tax laws in the state of North Carolina," Ridge said.

Ridge graduated from UNC in 1996, playing two seasons on the junior varsity basketball team and two years as a student assistant coach under former coach Dean Smith.