Duke and Arkansas met in the 1994 national championship game, with Mike Krzyzewski’s blue-blooded Blue Devils taking on Nolan Richardson’s Razorbacks and their withering 40 Minutes of Hell.

A late Scotty Thurman 3-pointer gave Arkansas a tense 76-72 victory. Former president Bill Clinton, a Natural State native, was midway through the first of his two terms in office while attending that night. Two-time All-American Grant Hill played in the last of his 129 games for Duke.

Move ahead two decades, and this is the sort of company Rhode Island is keeping on the recruiting trail.

The Rams check in with the No. 15 class in the nation, according to Scout.com, after Sunday night’s commitment by Maryland guard Brendan Adams. URI is sandwiched between those two more historically accomplished foes, filling all five of its open scholarships before the second whole week of October. It’s as sure a sign as any that Dan Hurley currently presides over a well-oiled machine in Kingston.

The quantity and quality of players in the Class of 2018 could make it the program’s best ever. Adams is the last in a trio of three-star pledges, joining combo forward Dana Tate and guard Tyrese Martin, while four-star power forward Jermaine Harris serves as the headliner. Add in a bit of a sleeper in guard Amir Harris and the Rams look set to immediately reload after graduating two projected starters (E.C. Matthews, Jared Terrell) and three key projected bench pieces (Jarvis Garrett, Stanford Robinson, Andre Berry) this spring.

How did this happen? A few converging factors have put URI in the place where its staff woke up Monday morning. Success on the floor is the most obvious, as the Rams are coming off a second Atlantic 10 championship in program history and first NCAA berth since 1999. Having the likes of Charles Barkley and Kenny Smith sing your praises and Lamar Odom wearing your colors for the cameras is the sort of exposure money can’t buy.

But it’s been some tireless work behind the scenes that has also put the Rams in position to capitalize on that momentum. Hurley has pushed and prodded the administration to contribute more through each of his four contract extensions, and athletic director Thorr Bjorn has proven a willing and creative partner. Associate head coach David Cox secured all but one of URI’s five commitments, targeting and landing prime talent with almost surgical precision. The cumulative effect of a larger support staff, renovated training facilities, locker rooms, film rooms and offices at the Ryan Center and a schedule featuring frequent television appearances and exposure in premier nonconference events makes for an increasingly attractive sales pitch.

Then there are the individual players themselves. Tate was the first domino to fall in mid-August, and he immediately started reaching out to other prospects on URI’s list. Jermaine Harris elected to reward the Rams after they were the first school to offer him a scholarship in July 2016, denying the likes of Kansas, Miami, South Carolina and Xavier. Adams is betting on his own strength of character, signing up to play against a St. Bonaventure program where his older brother, Jaylen, is on track to be one of its all-time greats.

Where URI’s class ultimately ends up being ranked is anybody’s guess. Scout.com lists 16 five-star players still up for grabs, allowing the traditional powers plenty of room to move up the ladder. VCU was the last Atlantic 10 program to crack the top 25, taking the final spot in 2014 thanks to Terry Larrier, Justin Tillman, Jonathan Williams and Michael Gilmore.

That particular VCU class should serve as something of a quick history lesson as well. Larrier transferred to Connecticut after coach Shaka Smart departed for Texas, Gilmore is now onto his third school at Florida Gulf Coast and Williams is probably just shy of being considered an all-conference guard. Only Tillman has truly looked the part of a four-star talent during his career, particularly when hitting both the offensive and defensive glass.

That’s the long way of saying production on the floor will ultimately define this URI group. Hindsight benefits past classes as much as the internet hype machine benefits current players — the duos of Jiggy Williamson-Stan Wright in 1974, Silk Owens-Tom Garrick in 1984 and Matthews-Hassan Martin in 2013 have all played their way into the Rams’ record books after arriving together as freshmen. Some of those players might have been less heralded, but their performance ultimately dictated how they’re remembered by Rams’ fans.

The natural excitement that accompanies potential reigns for now, and rightly so. URI appears on the verge of doing something special, with significant talent in the pipeline and Hurley signed through the 2023-24 season. The company has rarely been better for the Rams, and the future has seldom looked brighter.