After almost two years of waiting, Stony Brook University student athletes will finally have the chance to capitalize on their name, image and likeness (NIL) through a brand new third-party organization.

In June of 2021, the Supreme Court of the United States made a landmark decision in the NCAA v. Alston case that completely changed the landscape of college sports. The Court’s nine justices ruled unanimously against the NCAA for violating the Sherman Antitrust Act, opening the door for collegiate athletes to be compensated for their work on the field. Though the wait was long, Stony Brook’s student athletes can finally earn NIL deals of their own through the 1957 Club.

The 1957 Club — named after Stony Brook University’s founding year — is a third-party, non-profit organization whose main goals are to bring NIL opportunities to student athletes and get them involved in the institution’s community. It officially opened for business on May 17.

In New York, colleges are prohibited from arranging third-party compensation for their students, meaning Stony Brook is unable to implement its own system to foster NIL contracts. This dilemma inspired Rob Gitto — a real estate developer — to establish the 1957 Club to help provide student athletes at Stony Brook with financial opportunities that they could not legally receive through the institution itself.

Gitto — who serves as the organization’s president — is also the vice president of the Gitto Group, which is a real estate agency based in Port Jefferson, N.Y. Despite not attending Stony Brook as a student, he grew up in the area and has been an avid supporter of Stony Brook Athletics for years. Gitto is both a multi-sport season ticket holder and a member of the Ramsey Leadership Society, which “recognizes the Seawolves’ most ardent and generous supporters.”

While working in real estate, Gitto has been able to establish a good rapport with numerous people from the Seawolves’ community, including players, coaches, staff members and nurses.

Recognizing that many of his clients are involved with the University, he saw the 1957 Club as a way to give back to them.

“I’m a big fan of this community and a big part of this community is Stony Brook University,” Gitto said in an interview with The Statesman. “This is one part where I feel that maybe I can make a difference and help out a bit.”

Alongside Gitto on the 1957 Club’s Board of Directors are Scott Middleton and four former Stony Brook students. Middleton’s law firm — Campolo, Middleton & McCormick, LLP — was instrumental in creating all of the bylaws to properly run the non-profit organization, according to Gitto. Joe Catapano, who graduated in 2009, serves as vice president. Kylie Ohlmiller serves as director and Sean Chamberlain as secretary and treasurer; both of whom played lacrosse at Stony Brook. Former Stony Brook cross country runner Dale Sommerville is also on the board. All board members are volunteers.

Director of Athletics Shawn Heilbron emphasized how crucial it is for former student athletes to aid the new generation.

“I think it’s always outstanding when you can have alums involved and have alums who want to be involved,” Heilbron said in an interview with The Statesman. “Kylie, Sean and Dale Sommerville know what it’s like and they’ve been very supportive of the department since they’ve graduated.”

Heilbron said that one of the club’s goals is to provide opportunities to athletes from teams with less popularity, as well.

“Having Kylie, for example, signals that women’s sports and women’s lacrosse in particular, are important to us,” Heilbron said. “Creating opportunities outside of … some of the other sports that get most of the attention is what we’re trying to do.”

Though Stony Brook Athletics had no part in creating the 1957 Club, the two organizations remain in constant communication with each other in order to ensure compliance of state laws.

Heilbron knew that his department needed to start adapting to the new rules in college sports in order for them to stay caught up. He was thrilled that Gitto took charge to help them make that happen.

“In today’s world of intercollegiate athletes, identifying NIL opportunities for student athletes is critical,” Heilbron said. “Several of our donors understood what that meant and took the step to form the 1957 Club. It’s outside of the athletic department, but it’s certainly something that we knew needed to happen. I’m grateful for the fact that we had a dedicated group step up and lead that effort for us.”

Thus far, the 1957 Club has signed five athletes to contracts, all of whom play for the Stony Brook men’s basketball team. The list includes center Keenan Fitzmorris, forward Chris Maidoh, guard/forward Andre Snoddy and guards Aaron Clarke and Tyler Stephenson-Moore.

The upward trend of basketball players being signed to contracts is no coincidence. When forming the 1957 Club, Gitto quickly realized that men’s basketball is where Stony Brook needed the most help generating NIL opportunities.

These efforts have already been instrumental in both keeping and adding a number of players to the men’s basketball team.

“It’s already helped retain several members of our men’s basketball team and that’s a fact,” Heilbron said. “It’s helped us recruit others, as well. I do think in men’s basketball, it is absolutely essential just because of the numbers that are involved and the level of NIL that’s involved, even in the CAA.”

While the basketball portion was key, Gitto also found it necessary to make Stephenson-Moore the 1957 Club’s first signing. He was the first player that Gitto reached out to and he put pen to paper almost immediately after the club’s formation.

“On and off the court, we appreciate what he’s been doing,” Gitto said. “We just thought it was the perfect person to provide the first deal to. He’s stayed with the school, he’s been through good and bad, so we wanted to do something nice for him. It was us thanking him for his dedication.”

Heilbron reiterated Stephenson-Moore’s importance and dedication to the program.

“He deserved to be the first one,” Heilbron said. “I think we all agreed that if there was one student athlete who represents the very best of Stony Brook and has given so much of himself, it was definitely Tyler.”

When signing a contract, each student athlete receives an undisclosed amount of money that can vary from player to player, which the 1957 Club collects from donations. Donors can choose the player their money goes to, as well as the sport they want to see it invested in.

Contracts that Seawolves receive from the 1957 Club are very straightforward, but there is a unique clause that is applied to them. The student athletes must work with a charity, such as the Stony Brook Children’s Hospital or the Guide Dog Foundation, in order to earn a donor’s compensation. Currently, Gitto and his board have been making arrangements to aid certain charities. However, if an athlete or donor has a specific cause that is close to them, the 1957 Club will try its best to work with that group.

Though NIL deals do not require this clause, Gitto felt that it was a key step in helping the club’s signees progress as both players and people.

“This is something that we felt good about,” Gitto said. “Not only are we working with a charity, but we’re engaging these student athletes to work with a charity. We thought it was a nice, important piece that we want to make sure is a part of our mission moving forward.”

In recent months, however, donations flowing into the 1957 Club have stalled a bit. Originally, anyone who sent a donation to the collective would benefit by receiving a tax deduction. Right before Gitto and his board unveiled the 1957 Club to the public in May, the IRS put a stop to this.

With the sudden change, the 1957 Club has been forced to shift course slightly and find creative ways to help raise funds to reward its signees.

“We’d love to receive donations from people, but we understand that, without the tax benefit from it, it’s going to be challenging,” Gitto said. “Now, we’ve moved towards fundraising with events, we’re going to be setting up a membership program and then we’re also going to hopefully work with corporate partners.”

The 1957 Club’s first fundraising event is going to be a casino-themed gathering that will take place on Thursday, Oct. 12 at Club 57 in Port Jefferson from 6:30 p.m. to 10 p.m.

Although the 1957 Club primarily benefits student athletes and Stony Brook Athletics, Heilbron believes it will benefit the entire University.

“When the University climbs the rankings … it shines a spotlight on everyone,” Heilbron said. “It just signals that Stony Brook is going places. We’re aspirational, we’re bold, we are visionary and I think it just makes more student athletes interested in learning about Stony Brook.”