Ollie, OE Take Another Recruit Away from Kentucky

[KhalidShockedTheWorld]

Overtime Elite, Brandon Williams and Kevin Ollie continue to heist recruits away from the Kentuckys and Dukes. This is just going to level the playing field in college basketball over time, in an appropriate way, and I am loving it:

Lewis becomes OTE's top high school pickup

Class of 2023 recruit Jalen Lewis is signing with Overtime Elite. As the No. 2 prospect in his class, Lewis is the highest-ranked recruit to sign with the upstart league.

www.espn.com

 

[the Blades]

I like that kids have options, those who don't want to be in college shouldn't have to be , just like with MLB/ baseball with their dual option draft.....early out of HS or they can wait until 3 years later.

The one question I have regarding this OT Elite is, how do you build a players brand if no one cares ? Sports is the entertainment business and branding is built buy the passion of those who root for their "team". A bunch kids playing hoops running up and down the court vs another group , that no one cares about, doesn't seem to work.

That is the part that people not in the entertainment business seem to be missing with the new NIL rules starting up in the NCAA. It's 90 % + of these kids will have no brand until they are put into the infrastructure that has already been well established and is in place, in a high major college platform.

There's a reason you have opening acts/bands in the music business and they don't make much starting out. Often the record label loses $$$ promoting them in the beginning . But eventually once the brand of the artist develops, then the record label can recoup. So all of this will be fascinating to watch play out as it evolves.

 

[KhalidShockedTheWorld]

Branding is one issue and those are good points. The ironically named Brandon Williams mentions branding in his statement in that article, and it's not clear to me how these kids are building their brands while playing in this league, or what they are being told about doing so. I had thought that the point of this league is to be a developmental league for young potential NBA talent, who have the chance to develop their individual skills for the pro level as opposed to matriculating in a college program where team rather than individual development is emphasized. One of the problems we have seen with young American players going quickly to the NBA in recent years is very poor skill development. Just one example would be Daniel Hamilton who left UConn after 2 years but had questionable/erratic shooting skills in college, and they never developed once he left UConn. We have started to see international players with better skill development and they are all going to similar leagues in Europe. I thought the idea of this league was to help these kids actually develop their individual skills. On that note I should also mention that Daniel Hamilton was one of Ollie's kids whose shooting skills were not developed. Time will tell on whether this league does anything to advance the careers of these kids, as opposed to have them go to college. I suspect many of them have no desire to be involved in academics in order to play basketball and develop, and they should not be compelled to do so.

 

[the Blades]

Our last gift from the former HC is now a footnote:

 

[the Blades]

Here's a story on

5 star -Simeon Wilcher, 2023 ( Rivals) that's just the opposite: ​

“I told them no. They’re still going to try to get me to say yeah, but I’m not changing my mind,” said Sergio Wilcher, who has four sons, including, C.J. Wilcher, a 6-5 freshman guard at Nebraska, and Simeon.
He added of Simeon: “He’s still a child, a 17-year-old junior, and you’re still learning how to navigate life in itself, all the way around. Last year, we weren’t having dating conversations, now it’s a topic of conversation. ... Yes, I do believe my kids are going to play basketball for money, so you have to have a different type of sense of who you are before you go in the world. You have to learn how to say no because you can’t spread yourself too thin. You have people who are trying to professionally get at you and take what you have and take advantage of that situation.”

 

[the Blades]

BTW ...5 star -Simeon Wilcher, just visited Uconn this week:
He's from Roselle Catholic, in NJ like CJ Floyd