Woj: Former NBA Player Kevin Ollie Hired by New Pro Basketball League Overtime Elite

Kevin Ollie has been hired as head coach and director of player development for Overtime Elite, a new league created for top basketball prospects, per Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN.

Ollie spent 13 years in the NBA as a player from 1997-2010 before spending six years as the head coach at UConn, winning a national title in 2014.

The newly created Overtime Elite plans to provide six-figure salaries and academic tutoring components for high school players ages 16-18, who will compete against prep school teams and international organizations. Those competing in the league would lose college eligibility, but it could put them on the path to the NBA draft.

The league states its plan is to offer the "world’s most talented young basketball players a better pathway to becoming professional athletes."

It could follow in the path of the G League, which brought in top prospects this past season as an alternative to college basketball. Jalen Green and Jonathan Kuminga are both projected lottery picks in the 2021 draft after spending the season with the G League Ignite.

Overtime Elite plans to generate money through name, image and likeness rights plus sales of jerseys and NFTs.

Adding Ollie gives Overtime Elite a proven coach familiar with both the college and professional game.

The 48-year-old spent time with some of the biggest stars in the NBA during his career. He played alongside LeBron James during the superstar's rookie season with the Cleveland Cavaliers, while Ollie's final year in the NBA was with the Oklahoma City Thunder in 2009-10, a team that included Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook and James Harden.

This experience could help him recruit and develop the next generation of basketball stars.