A new semi-professional league that will provide compensation for high school basketball prospects is in the works.
According to 247Sports’ Travis Branham, Overtime, a multimedia sports company, is planning on launching its own league that will pay the top high school basketball recruits in the country. Overtime is expected to announce the league sometime in February and begin competition in Sept. 2021.
Per Branham, the “aim of the league is to field up to eight teams of the top high school basketball prospects in the country with the vision of providing a new preps-to-pro alternative — with salaries expected to be well within the six-figure range.” Players who participate in the league will no longer attend their local high schools or participate in high school sporting events as they compete and receive coaching and training from former NBA athletes and coaches in the Overtime Select league. Education will be offered in a “non-traditional” manner.
Upon graduating from high school, the next step for the prospects who play in the league will likely be going to the G-League or pursuing opportunities overseas. However, it remains to be seen how the league will impact a prospect’s college eligibility. According to Branham, 2023 combo guard Mikey Williams, the No. 2 player in his class, will be a primary target for Overtime as it begins its recruiting efforts. Williams has become an internet sensation throughout his high school basketball career, amassing nearly three million followers on Instagram.
Overtime’s Select League is similar in structure to LaVar Ball’s failed Junior Basketball Association. However, Overtime Select will be the first league of its kind to solely focus on teenagers in the United States as opposed to Ball’s league, which also featured international prospects.
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