Here are 3 quick thoughts on Kanon Catchings choosing to play his senior season at Overtime Elite:
1) This is the new state of high school athletics. As antiquated as the NCAA was, high school basketball might be even more so. With NIL changes, eligibility changes, accessibility, personal branding, and everything else that is both welcoming and maddening with sports, alternatives to the old tried and true high school route will start to be less attractive, especially for the biggest named high school kids and families. There's obviously good and bad with that, and it disrupts and interrupts some internal conflicts of what's best for kids. Overtime Elite has really worked to offer a different path for players, and it appears to be catching on more and more. Amen and Ausar Thompson are brother both drafted in the top five that went the Overtime Elite route. Overtime Elite is going to become more and more of a thing and new alternatives will be created.
2) Personally, this might be the best thing for Kanon Catchings as a person. Part of what has been so attractive to Catchings family is how well Purdue's coaching staff has done dealing with Catchings emotionally. High schools are not created to deal with the public pressure of being a major college basketball prospect in a state obsessed with basketball. Overtime Elite specializes in basketball players. Their goal is to prepare high major players and potential NBA players in not just growing as a basketball player, but a person that plays basketball at a high level. There have been issues with anxiety, and getting away from Indiana to Atlanta with other students and players going through the same things could be exactly what Kanon needs to prepare for the off court stuff that this next year could bring. He won't be the biggest fish in a small pond.
3) Basketball wise... it's a no brainer. Brownsburg was not gonna be a good basketball team even with Catchings. They lacked size, skill, and athleticism around Catchings. The talent at Overtime Elite should be more consistent, the training more focused, and Catchings should be more prepared for a college basketball environment coming into Purdue.
1) This is the new state of high school athletics. As antiquated as the NCAA was, high school basketball might be even more so. With NIL changes, eligibility changes, accessibility, personal branding, and everything else that is both welcoming and maddening with sports, alternatives to the old tried and true high school route will start to be less attractive, especially for the biggest named high school kids and families. There's obviously good and bad with that, and it disrupts and interrupts some internal conflicts of what's best for kids. Overtime Elite has really worked to offer a different path for players, and it appears to be catching on more and more. Amen and Ausar Thompson are brother both drafted in the top five that went the Overtime Elite route. Overtime Elite is going to become more and more of a thing and new alternatives will be created.
2) Personally, this might be the best thing for Kanon Catchings as a person. Part of what has been so attractive to Catchings family is how well Purdue's coaching staff has done dealing with Catchings emotionally. High schools are not created to deal with the public pressure of being a major college basketball prospect in a state obsessed with basketball. Overtime Elite specializes in basketball players. Their goal is to prepare high major players and potential NBA players in not just growing as a basketball player, but a person that plays basketball at a high level. There have been issues with anxiety, and getting away from Indiana to Atlanta with other students and players going through the same things could be exactly what Kanon needs to prepare for the off court stuff that this next year could bring. He won't be the biggest fish in a small pond.
3) Basketball wise... it's a no brainer. Brownsburg was not gonna be a good basketball team even with Catchings. They lacked size, skill, and athleticism around Catchings. The talent at Overtime Elite should be more consistent, the training more focused, and Catchings should be more prepared for a college basketball environment coming into Purdue.
