From Johnston, Rhode Island, to Joplin, Missouri, one of the debut news personalities of the midwest has been with sports every step of the way.
A Rhode Island native and 2024 University of Rhode Island graduate, Cam Iasimone has relocated nearly 1,500 miles west to start his career in sports as an anchor at KSN/KODE, Joplin’s dual affiliation television station.
A very different landscape from the Ocean State, Missouri was an adjustment for Iasimone right off the bat.
“Everything is flat,” Iasimone said. “Once I get out of my apartment complex, it’s just like, all land, it’s farm animals and stuff. It’s so different.”
Rhode Island was home for Iasimone for over two decades, however, and as a result he was able to accomplish big things in the nation’s smallest state.
While at URI, Iasimone was heavily involved in sports media, serving as one of the broadcasters on ESPN+, working with WRIU 90.3 FM and even reporting for the Good Five Cent Cigar. Iasimone also completed a slurry of internships as a college student, spending time at 98.5 The Sports Hub, WPRI Channel 12, WJAR Channel 10 and with URI’s football team.
Iasimone was not always a Rhode Island Ram, though. For the first two years of his higher education, he attended Rhode Island College in Providence.
“It’s a Division III school for athletics, so there wasn’t a lot of opportunities,” Iasimone said. “I didn’t know if I was going to get into sports like media or whatever. I just wanted to play basketball.”
Due to COVID-19 derailment, Iasimone never played collegiate basketball, but that didn’t make it any less important in his life.
Basketball was Iasimone’s childhood love, and in Johnston, that is quite fitting. The town is home to current Boston Celtics Head Coach Joe Mazzula, and the family coaching tree spreads outside Causeway Street.
Mazzula’s younger brother Justin, currently with the Utah Jazz, served as a graduate assistant for URI’s men’s basketball team during Iasimone’s first year in Kingston. The eldest Mazzula, Dan, coached Iasimone growing up.
Dan Mazzula passed away in 2020, but his impact with Iasimone has never left. In April of 2023, Iasimone produced and edited a documentary about Mazzula and the impact he had on the Johnston community. The production is still featured on Iasimone’s YouTube channel “Cam’s Corner,” which doubles as a podcast.
The “Cam’s Corner” podcast has featured local sports personalities like Sam Knox of Channel 12, Kevin Moore and Nicole Menner of Channel 10 and Nick Coit of Channel 6. More national media members like Noah Eagle, Drew Carter and Rich Hollenberg have also come onto the show to tell their stories.
Iasimone began the show before he came to URI, and conceived the idea with two close friends, Nick and Tom Comella. The brothers and Iasimone helped brainstorm ideas to help kick off a possible sports project and the podcast was what they landed on.
“I kind of want to do something with social media,” Iasimone said. “Because that’s what happens when podcasts are popping off and people would start making their own. I’m like, ‘why don’t I make my own and see what I can do?’ Joe Mazzulla was obviously the first person I thought of, because of how close I am with his family. I was like, ‘that’d be a great first guest.’”
Mazzula did end up being the first guest on “Cam’s Corner,” and the episode was filmed and published while he was still an assistant coach under Ime Udoka. The podcast then helped Iasimone make connections at URI, the first one being Stone Freeman, the current leader of Rhody Excellence, URI’s name image and likeness initiative.
Freeman was featured on the third episode of the program, and 112 episodes down, countless more connections have been made due to “Cam’s Corner.”
“[The podcast] definitely helped a lot,” Iasimone said. “I don’t think I would be here [doing] what I’m doing now if it wasn’t for the podcast. Even though it’s not like a groundbreaking show or anything like that, it can still help me make demands and help me make connections for sure.”
Since moving to Joplin in August, Iasimone has grown as a reporter in the professional world, from covering high school sports to the Oklahoma City Thunder.
“Being on the floor at a Thunder game and doing like the big, big things, it kind of makes all the little things worth it,” Iasimone said. “[Working high school games] gets me the reps that make me more comfortable on camera, to see from day one to now and how much I’ve changed.”
Isaimone’s journey is just beginning, and with a mantra to inspire growth, it doesn’t show signs of slowing down.
“My one motto is just keep going,” Iasimone said. “Stay locked in and keep going.”
From play-by-play to standups, Iasimone will look to “keep going” in the very near future.