OVERTIME ELITE IS THE NEW LEAGUE ON THE HIGH SCHOOL BLOCK WITH $$$$$$$$ TO BACK IT UP…….
Come this September, a new high school aged professional league will begin in the United States, changing the face of men’s college basketball at the highest level for good.
From Martenzie Johnson and the UNDEFEATED: Overtime Elite (OTE) announced Thursday that it is launching a professional basketball league that will compensate high school-aged players in hopes of funneling elite talent away from playing both high school and collegiate basketball, in which players are prohibited from being compensated.
Overtime Elite, a video content company, will pay 30 elite boys players aged 16 through 18 a minimum of $100,000 upwards as they forfeit their amateur careers in high school and colleges. The 30 players will come world wide.
One city in the USA will host games with teams of the league made up from the 30 players. A schedule of games will include other high school, collegiate and professional teams.
As of OTE president and commissioner Aaron Ryan: “This offering and opportunity not only gives you pro-caliber training and development in a facility that models and starts to simulate what life will be like in the NBA … but it also provides a six-figure salary,” said Ryan, who worked in the NBA for 22 years, including most recently as vice president of the NBA 2K league.
Further, from ESPN:
Each OTE player will earn at least $100,000 guaranteed for the season. The league also plans to compensate players through bonuses, equity in Overtime, and revenues from a player’s name, image and likeness, the latter an NCAA issue that is currently being discussed in Congress.
Along with full health care benefits, OTE will offer up to $100,000 for players to use toward college tuition in the event a player doesn’t go on to play in the NBA or other professional leagues.
As of this new league, many say that Cade Cunningham of Oklahoma State University, the probable first man to be drafted in the next NBA draft, will be the last known great talent to play in college as of the new league and what it can do to prepare a player to be an NBA star. The college game with regard to the high end players will suffer.
Cade Cunningham Photo Credit: Zach Lancaster
