Do Your Homework: Overtime Elite is the Perfect Program for Young Hoopers

Although it's become an established league, there's still many misconceptions about the Overtime Elite program.

As much success as Overtime Elite has seen as a program, it’s still something that is misunderstood by some. With that in mind, it’s important for every basketball fan to truly understand what OTE is doing, especially given it’s emerging as a premier pathway for young basketball players to achieve their ultimate goals, getting a professional experience at a very early age.

Even Overtime Elite GM Damien Wilkins didn’t know enough about the program early on when he was being recruited to join the staff.

“I actually didn't want to be a part of OTE originally, because I didn’t know what it was, I didn’t know how long it was going to last, I didn’t know if the space was going to even accept it,” Wilkins told Draft Digest. “So I had to do a whole lot of homework, have a whole lot of conversations with people who knew a lot about it and were already hired. Before I was hired, there were only seven or eight people. So I had a lot of talks with Dan Porter and Brandon Williams — our first General Manager — about what it was and the idea behind it. And I talked to some people in the NBA who had some insight on it.”

Furthermore, even Amen and Ausar Thompson — who ended up thriving at OTE and were selected fourth and fifth overall in the 2023 NBA Draft — initially weren’t sure about the program due to lack of knowledge and it being so new.

“My first impression was I’m not going to OTE, because I didn’t understand it. It had never been done before. That was just my first honest reaction,” said Amen Thompson in the One Shot: Overtime Elite documentary. ”What got me over the hump was seeing the coaches, the trainers and having the trust they were going to get me better for the draft and for my career later on. We had so many resources that other high schools at the time didn’t have.”

In these cases and many others, it’s not uncommon to be afraid of something new. While Overtime Elite was certainly a risk for players when it first launched, it’s now an established product. Even then, there are still quite a few misconceptions about the league overall. Once you begin to truly understand what is happening inside the walls of Overtime Elite’s facility in Atlanta, it’s clear that this is an experience unlike any other that sets players up for success. It’s a no-brainer when you walk into the facility and really see firsthand what these players have access to.

While One Shot: Overtime Elite on Amazon Prime gives you an inside look at what happens behind the scenes, you truly have to experience it in person to fully appreciate it.

Perhaps the most common misconception of Overtime Elite is the contracts that the players actually sign. When the league initially launched, professional contracts were signed by all players and college eligibility was forgone. While many think this is still the case today, OTE has actually pivoted slightly from that model. Although players are still able to sign that type of deal, the majority of athletes currently in the system are actually on high school scholarships, giving them a path to ultimately sign with a college team upon graduation.

“What we did in year one with the pro contracts, that’s all people know,” OTE’s Director of Recruiting and Retention Aki Collins told Draft Digest. “We’ve had two or three changes since then. Now we’re primarily amateur and NIL. But people still have that in their minds."

Furthermore, the routes these athletes have after finishing their time at Overtime Elite aren't simply college or the NBA. Every player has their own journey. In fact, this system has sent players overseas to compete professionally as well as to programs like G League Ignite.

Regardless of the path, the results are impossible to deny. Just since the league was launched two years ago, the list of players who have experienced successful stints at OTE before moving on to the next chapter of their basketball careers is remarkable. 

• Amen Thompson (Houston Rockets)
• Ausar Thompson (Detroit Pistons)
• Dominic Barlow (San Antonio Spurs)
• Izan Almansa (Ignite - G League)
• Tyler Smith (Ignite - G League)
• Alexandre Sarr (Perth Wildcats - NBL)
• Jazian Gortman (Milwaukee Bucks - E10)
• Rob Dillingham (Kentucky)
• Kanaan Carlyle (Stanford)
• Tyler Bey (Missouri State)
• Jai Smith (Austin Spurs - G League)
• TJ Clark (Ontario Clippers - G League)
• Bryson Warren (Sioux Falls Skyforce - G League)
• Jaylen Martin (Westchester Knicks - G League)
• Emmanuel Maldonado (Cleveland Charge - G League)
• Jean Montero (Real Betis - Spain)
• Johned Walker (Indios de Mayagüez - Puerto Rico)
• Malik Bowman (Kouvot - Finland)

Furthermore, there’s already a handful of players currently competing in the OTE system that have already committed to some of the most prestigious colleges in the country.

When attending Overtime Elite, the athletes still receive a quality education. Not only do they take classes like every other teenager across the country, but it’s actually in a more intimate setting with a better teacher-to-student ratio, which allows them to maximize their time learning. That schooling takes place inside the walls of the same facility where games and practices occur, so there’s no time wasted traveling from place to place. When these kids aren’t in class, they’re able to work on their games, watch film, recover and train.

“I think I was shocked by how many people hated us. Like, I really was surprised by how many people came at us so hard,” said Overtime CEO and Co-Founder Dan Porter when thinking about the misconceptions of the program early on. “Because number one, a lot of it was really driven by misunderstandings. Like, they said we don’t even have a school. And I'm like, I’m spending $2 million a year to have a school.”

While they may not get to experience prom or homecoming like a traditional high schooler would, these athletes are there to live out their dreams in hopes of making to the NBA. There’s no better place to train and work towards that than at OTE. Every player that has committed to this program knows this is the best place to maximize their potential on the court.

“I think our preparation here doesn’t get talked about enough. The schedule for these guys is so unique,” OTE Head of Player Development Corey Frazier told Draft Digest. “I don’t think there’s a school out there that offers the resources we have with our development and other teams. What you see is the finished product upstairs on Friday and Saturday night, but you don’t get to see the preparation that goes into it. It makes our environment unique.”

Not only do these players get what is essentially the full high school educational experience, but they also get a glimpse of what college life is like, living with teammates in a dedicated housing situation. Overtime Elite provides league housing less than a mile from the arena, where the players live one of two ways.

One building is for seniors and below, which essentially means high school players that are on scholarship and on the amateur track to go to college. They have an entire floor of the building that is completely closed off from other tenants with security and a staff that stays within those confines.

The other building is where the postgraduate athletes live that are on the direct-to-professional route. They have much less supervision, which is truly what it’s like in college where they have to learn to hold themselves accountable.

In either situation, it’s a fantastic experience that develops qualities off the court that are important as these athletes grow as people.

As it relates to on-court preparation for the next level, OTE in its infancy got criticism for having a unique set of rules and unorthodox gameplay for the age of players going through the system.

The league plays with a FIBA 3-point line, a full-size NBA court, longer quarters, unique situational rules and much more. While these can be perceived as negative because it’s unlike the traditional high school or college game, it’s actually preparing these kids for the next level even better than legacy systems.

Not only are these athletes adapting to a longer FIBA 3-point line, but their practice courts are actually NBA distance. They’re in better shape than every other high school team that comes into the building because they’re used to full-sized courts and playing more minutes. Even the unorthodox rules — like the “Big Bonus” that emulates an odd man fast break — put players in situations to experience things at scale that the average basketball player doesn’t at their age.

Overall, what Overtime Elite is essentially doing is grooming these players to be successful at the next level, whatever that means for each individual. As such, OTE is a partner with other leagues and levels of competition. The players are set up to be even more prepared for on-court play and off-court requirements, especially on the mental side of things. They’re learning how to be professional adults.

Even then, there is a misconception that OTE is in competition with or disrupting the traditional basketball system.

“The reality is we are partners with college basketball. We are partners with the NBA, and we gave them their fourth and fifth draft pick who are doing great. We're training them free,” Dan Porter told Draft Digest. “I think people want us to be this crazy other thing. But I think we really have fit into the ecosystem in a number of different ways that I think, ultimately, is good for the game of basketball, because every sport is competing for its audience.”

Overtime Elite is truly a family. While the players are divided into different teams for Friday and Saturday night games, they still practice, live and go to school together. They’re even in a group text with Wilkins that is frequently busy with messages hyping each other up.

Like anything that is still fairly new, there will always be misconceptions. But the reality is, if you take a moment to understand what is happening at Overtime Elite, you quickly realize just how perfect the experience is for these athletes.

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