At only 15 years old, and while he was only a “freshman” (first year) in high school last season, Eli Ellis changes his path: the point guard, one of the best players of the high school class of 2025 (he will begin its first university season at the start of the 2025 school year), has indeed signed with the Overtime Elite.
A priori, this is a contract signed only for next season, and we imagine that he will extend, or not, the experience depending on his feelings at the end of the 2022/23 season. What is certain is that the native of North Carolina will receive no salary, so as to maintain his eligibility for the NCAA, and therefore his eligibility for possible sponsorship contracts with the NIL. Otherwise, he would no longer be eligible.
Like any other high school student, he will take courses throughout the year since he has in fact chosen the “scolarship” option (the other option, “salary”, allowing him to be paid), thus offering the possibility of preparing for university in state-of-the-art premises, similar to those of large university programs.
The new royal road to the NCAA?
« I chose the Overtime Elite because I felt I needed to experience something new. ” did he declare. ” I wanted to challenge myself, to become a better player, both mentally and physically. And I also wanted to have the opportunity to train in a professional environment, to prepare myself for the future. »
The last sentence is symbolic of a possible new normal among American high school students. Like Ellis, other big names on the “High School” circuit in the United States have recently chosen the Overtime Elite to prepare themselves, in a professional setting, for the NCAA: this is particularly the case of the winger Naas Cunningham, who is ranked the third best high school student in the class of 2024.
And it’s a safe bet that others will follow in the future. After all, if a contract in Overtime Elite allows them to train in much more qualitative conditions than the “simple” gymnasium of a high school, while retaining the possibility of joining the NCAA later, why deprive themselves of it?
