Overtime Elite League adding four national high school prep basketball academies: report

A splashy upstart professional basketball circuit built for high school-aged players is reportedly expanding. 

The Overtime Elite League is set to add four high school prep academies to its circuit, Travis Branham of 247 Sports reported Wednesday: Combine Academy, Southern California Academy, Phoenix Prep and Moravian Prep.

It's unclear what the teams' integration into the league will look like, or how playing in the league will impact the college eligibility of players at each of the four programs, which all boast high-major prospects.

Overtime Elite offers high school-aged players professional contracts and is a pathway directly to the professional route. In college, athletes can profit off of their name, image and likeness without forfeiting amateur status.

The OTE reportedly pays its players a minimum of $100,000 per year and two alums have gone on to sign two-way contracts in the NBA. Brothers Amen and Ausar Thompson — who play for OTE's City Reapers team — are projected top-10 picks in June's NBA Draft.

Overtime Elite's expansion would follow a trend of movement and consolidation in recent years among high school basketball teams that compete — or want to compete — against elite level teams around the country instead of their state associations.

Last month, the National Interscholastic Basketball Conference added New Hampshire-based prep school Brewster Academy to its 10-team national high school league.

Combine Academy, a prep school based in Lincolnton, North Carolina, finished the 2022-23 season at No. 24 in the nation in the SBLive/Sports Illustrated Power 25.

Both Combine Academy and Moravian Prep were previously allowed to compete against North Carolina High School Athletic Association member high schools, even though both played national schedules and didn't compete for NCHSAA state titles, whereas the state associations in Arizona and California barred schools from playing SoCal Academy and PHH Prep.

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Lead photo by Zach Shugan