Overtime Elite establishing itself as legitimate threat in basketball recruiting
The NBA’s G League Ignite program has only been around for two years now, but it has already been able to bring in high-caliber high school prospects such as Jalen Green, Jaden Hardy, and Scoot Henderson. Over the last two NBA Drafts, the Ignite program has sent six players to the next level, including three (Green, Jonathan Kuminga, and Dyson Daniels) going in the lottery. The new pro route option has made an immediate impact on the recruiting efforts of college teams, including the Kentucky Wildcats.
It hasn’t prevented UK from still locking in the players head coach John Calipari wants, but it has made identifying those targets more difficult. Even in the present, Kentucky is having to deal with the G League getting involved late in the recruitment of five-star ’23 center Aaron Bradshaw.
Will the newly established Overtime Elite present the same challenges? Looking at what the organization has done over the last two days, it might happen sooner rather than later.
For starters, Overtime Elite (OTE) is an Atlanta-based sports league that compensates athletes with a base pay of $100,000 per year plus bonuses and a share in the company’s equity. There are just three teams across the league as of right now. OTE also provides an educational program that is meant to supplement the traditional high school curriculum. Investors include plenty of NBA players along with the likes of Drake and Jeff Bezos. State Farm, Gatorade, and Meta Quest are three of OTE’s major sponsors.
The league featured 27 players (all aged 16-20) during its inaugural season in 2021-22, including a pair of future NBA lottery picks in twins Amen and Ausar Thompson along with another set of twins in Ryan and Matt Bewley, who are projected as future NBA Draft selections.
OTE’s debut season was successful enough to return for year two in 2022-23. The rosters figure to include even more talent this time around, too.
On Monday, OTE announced the signings of two four-stars from the ’23 class in Treymane Parker and Stanford commit Kanaan Carlyle. A day later on Tuesday, OTE announced two more signings: class of 2025 power forward Bryson Tiller (a future five-star prospect) and four-star ’24 small forward Jahki Howard. All four players have accepted a scholarship option with OTE in order to preserve their college eligibility, meaning Carlyle can remain committed to Stanford.
Those four aren’t the only ones, either. Back in the spring, OTE signed a five-star wing from the ’24 class in Naasir Cunningham, who also accepted the scholarship option. Four-star Michigan State ’23 commit, Jeremey Fears, is reportedly set to join soon. The idea will be to get these kids to stick with OTE and forgo college altogether. More additions will likely be on the way.
It’s tough to predict the impact this league, in particular, could have on Kentucky’s (or any college team’s) recruiting efforts, but if it’s anything like what the Ignite program has done, it will make its presence felt over the coming years. But at the same time, with how dramatically name, image, and likeness rules have transformed college sports in just a year, nothing is set in stone.
OTE hasn’t made moves on any clear Kentucky targets, but don’t be shocked if it happens soon.
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