Purdue Commit Kanon Catchings Leaving Brownsburg, Will Play in Overtime Elite
Five-star basketball prospect Kanon Catchings has signed a deal with Overtime Elite, and will forgo his final season at Brownsburg High School in Indiana to play for the upstart league, as first reported by Andrew Slater.
Catchings is still committed to head coach Matt Painter and the Purdue Boilermakers in the class of 2024.
Catchings is also the son of former Illinois women's basketball standout Tauja Catchings, and the nephew of Tennessee and WNBA legend Tamika Catchings, a Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame inductee.
“(Kanon) wasn’t really seeking an opportunity, but he saw Overtime Elite was a good opportunity and was the only one he was really interested in other than Brownsburg,” his mother Tauja said in a story for the Indy Star. "We took a visit and saw it was incredible as far as what they offer from a basketball development standpoint, along with social and academic development. For Kanon, we said, ‘OK, this might be something that can help you in a lot of areas.’"
"He came to the realization that this was probably going to be the best option to prepare him for when he gets to Purdue.”
Overtime Elite first burst onto the scene in 2021 as an alternative option to college basketball for high profile high school athletes with aspirations of reaching the NBA.
Overtime Elite functions as a private school, a basketball league and a media company all in one. It allows its student-athletes to either accept a minimum salary of $100,000, or stay amateurs and maintain college eligibility, instead compensating them with organizational scholarships to help with their eventual college tuition.
The league's reputation was greatly bolstered this year with the successes of Amen and Ausar Thompson, identical twins who were selected No. 4 and No. 5 overall by the Houston Rockets and the Detroit Pistons, respectively, in the 2023 NBA draft.
The Thompson twins played two seasons in Overtime Elite and were sold as the league's primary stars back in its inaugural 2021-22 seasons, as both were ranked as five-star guards in the class of 2022.
Additionally, Overtime Elite has also produced success stories in Dominick Barlow, Jazian Gortman and Jaylen Martin, who have signed with the San Antonio Spurs, the Milwaukee Bucks and the New York Knicks, respectively, as undrafted free agents in the past two NBA seasons.
"Traditional school has not been easy for him,” Tauja told the Indy Star. “With his goals (in basketball), there are things that Overtime Elite can offer from the business of basketball that you aren’t going to get in a traditional school. And it’s hard for me because he’s leaving the household, too. But it’s probably something that he needs.”
According to Kyle Neddenriep, Kanon Catchings is the first Indiana high school basketball player to sign with Overtime Elite, though fellow Indiana high school basketball star and Purdue commit Myles Colvin did consider taking the Overtime Elite route as well.
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