Newport’s Taylen Kinney moving on to pro prep at Atlanta’s Overtime Elite

By Dan Weber
NKyTribune sports reporter

It was happening, that was the word on the street. Newport junior Taylen Kinney, one of the top high school basketball prospects in the nation and maybe the best player in Kentucky, was about to move on after a summer of national and international exposure.

No surprise. High school sports are being transformed, much as the college game has been the past couple of years, by the kind of NIL (Name, Image and Likeness) money-making opportunities with instant transfer eligibility and unlimited free agency.

As it turns out, the talk was true, as Kinney, a 6-foot-2 extremely athletic guard who can do it all as his 31 big-time college basketball offers make clear, revealed in a Instagram post this week:

“As I take the next step in my career and head to Overtime Elite for my junior season, I wanted to say thank you to my coaches, my teammates, my teachers and staff at Newport who have helped me get to this point. I’m really grateful for the relationships I’ve built here and the support system I have who have given me the confidence to take this next step in my basketball development. I know I’ll make my family, friends and city proud as I represent Newport at OTE.”

But Newport fans who have watched Taylen grow up as a Wildcat will have to look to Atlanta where the eight-team Overtime Elite League is based to follow him now. The Wildcats will be aiming to win a third straight Ninth Region title with what might have been a real shot to bring a state title back to Northern Kentucky.

In a press release from Overtime Elite, Kinney is quoted as saying: “I’m really excited to be joining OTE this season. I was able to see a lot of the facility over the summer and the thought of being surrounded by top players, amazing resources and around the clock training was too good of an opportunity to pass up. While it is very difficult to leave my friends and my family in Newport, I know that this is the best place for me as I continue to prepare for college and become the best player I can be on and off the court.”

You knew this was a real possibility last week when Malachi Moreno, the 7-foot Great Crossing center out of Georgetown, declared he was both headed to UK next year and returning to play for his high school team this year. But according to Moreno’s coach, it was only after a summer of uncertainty as to where he’d finish up his high school career with the national programs beating at his door.

Kinney, after averaging 17.5 points a game and 4.0 rebounds as a sophomore, was ready to become a transformative player for both his high school team and the region as he moved into his junior season following a disappointing ending to his sophomore year when a serious hamstring injury limited him in tournament play. He can score from inside or out, get to the rim with his athleticism, beat people down the court, rebound, pass and score from deep.

Often listed as a point guard, Kinney is a true combo guard with the skills to do both. Kentucky hasn’t offered him yet, but Kansas has. And Cincinnati and Louisville and Purdue and Auburn. And Arkansas, Michigan, Oregon, Notre Dame and Villanova to name just a few of the coast-to-coast suitors.

One of the notable changes in the sports landscape is how Kinney has recently signed with Excel Sports Management. Just a couple of years ago, signing with an agent would have been instant ineligibility for a college athlete. Now high school athletes are doing so.

Overtime Elite is an eight-team basketball league for 16–20-year-olds, based in Atlanta since its founding in 2021. Some of its national sponsors are Gatorade, GMC, State Farm and Adidas.

The minimum annual salary for Overtime Elite players who agree to turn pro and skip college has been reported at $100,000. Its goal, OTE states, is to “offer the world’s most talented basketball players a better pathway to becoming professional athletes.”

For players who choose to go to college and benefit eventually from NIL money there, Overtime Elite provides players with 3.5-4.0 hours a day in an online curriculum in NCAA-approved courses.

The University of Kentucky announced Wednesday that they had made a scholarship offer to Kinney.

Contact Dan Weber at dweber3440@aol.com . Follow him on X (formerly Twitter) @dweber3440.

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