Corey Frazier Talks Working with Kentucky's Antonio Reeves, Somto Cyril, and Karter Knox
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Corey Frazier is a name Big Blue Nation should get to know. Frazier, as the head coach of Overtime Elite’s Rod Wave Elite (RWE) team spent this past season coaching two Kentucky commits in Somto Cyril and Karter Knox.
As recently as last Saturday, Frazier has also been working with Kentucky guard Antonio Reeves as he prepares for the Final Four Three-Point Contest and the 2024 NBA Draft. Frazier is well-regarded in coaching circles, having captured back-to-back championships at Overtime Elite in 2022 and 2023 and becoming Director of Operations for the Bradley Beal Elite AAU team.
KSR+ caught up with Frazier to talk about his experience coaching both Knox and Cyril, training with Antonio Reeves, and where each player is looking to improve before next season.
Karter Knox: ‘He’s Improved So Much’
There were some very mixed reviews about Karter Knox heading into his time at Overtime Elite. However, following his season and a strong McDonald’s All-American Game performance, Knox is firmly entrenched as a Top-25 prospect in 2024.
“It’s just the little things that he added to his game while he was here,” Frazier said. “That was one of the most impressive things.”
Frazier even received a call from someone on Tuesday night during the McDonald’s All-American Game about a comment made by the broadcast team. They said he’s not the same Karter Knox he was a year ago.
“He changed his body and is in better shape,” Frazier said. “That’s attributed to him buying into what we were doing all year. At the beginning of the year, you probably wouldn’t have that same comment. He improved so much. We’re really excited about where it’s going for Karter.”
Somto Cyril: ‘He’s Going to Be an Anchor Defensively’
Kentucky signee Somto Cyril is known for his defense. Although he missed most of the season due to a left-hand injury, Cyril’s return had a great impact on the RWE team.
With Cyril’s help, RWE went from being a 4-seed in the OTE playoffs to making the finals. They were one game away from an Overtime Elite Championship but fell short to the City Reapers in a 3-2 series loss.
“The biggest thing with Somto, going through the injury, he still came back to have an impact on what we were doing this year,” Frazier said. “He’s still going to be an anchor defensively, still going to block shots, and still going to rebound the basketball. The consistency has been the best he’s had all year even after the injury.”
Cyril joined Overtime Elite in the fall of 2022, spending two seasons with the program. Frazier was able to work with him for both of those years and saw marked improvement.
“The attention to detail, understanding who is going to be at the next level, and accepting that has probably been the biggest thing that I can say he’s improved on,” Frazier said. “He’s shown he can accept that role.”
Frazier has also worked with Cyril on his shooting form. While not a key strength of his game, it’s something that’s shown improvement.
“He works so hard on his shooting,” Frazier said. “Even if he misses one or two, he works too hard not to get mad or pissed off about his shot. He’s continuing to work. It does look a lot better. It’s just about building the confidence for him.”
‘They Complement Each Other Well’
Somto Cyril and Karter Knox got a great headstart on their time at Kentucky together during the 2023-24 season. Playing as teammates with RWE, the two future Wildcats developed a strong chemistry.
“Somto is probably going to be putting Karter in a headlock a ton. That’s what he did while he was there,” Frazier joked. “They interact pretty well with each other, respectfully. There’s no disrespect between the two or anything like that. They complement each other well. Somto is going to help hold him accountable and hopefully, Karter continues to grow in a leadership role where he can get better with that.”
Frazier said he doesn’t think there’s “any doubt” that the two like to be each other’s teammates. That’s something that should continue at Kentucky next season.
Both players still have several areas they need to improve before the college level. For Knox, that focus is on ball handling and getting to his spots.
“He’s done a really good job of that, but I want him to be even better at getting to his spots so that now he’s not just catch-and-shoot or a quick post-up,” Frazier said. “He can actually get to his spots whenever he wants to without being on a certain side of the floor. [We’re] continuing to work on his ball handling.”
Frazier is also helping Knox improve as a mid-post basketball player. He called that “the other place that’s going to shock people.”
“He’s accepted that he can play in the mid-post and step out and shoot to make him a three-level scorer,” Frazier said.
As for Cyril, the main focus is shooting, especially from the free-throw line. He shot 36.8 percent from the stripe during the regular season but saw that increase to 58.1 percent in the playoffs.
“We’re continuing to improve on free throws and then his 10-12 foot shot from the elbows and the short corner,” Frazier said. “That’s going to help him inside the three-point line where he can confidently take that baseline jumper or that elbow jump shot.”
Training with Antonio Reeves
Preparing athletes for the NBA Draft is nothing new to Corey Frazier. Last year, Frazier was the lead trainer for Amen Thompson‘s draft prep. Thompson went on to be drafted No. 4 overall in the 2023 NBA Draft by the Houston Rockets.
As of Saturday, March 30, Frazier has been working with Kentucky guard Antonio Reeves. During his short time with Reeves, Frazier has been very impressed.
“First of all, I did not know he shot the ball that well,” Frazier said. “I knew he could shoot, but that thing is pure, effortless. He has a really good eye on the rim.”
Frazier has worked with Reeves on several different ways to improve his shot. Those include getting his shot up quicker and making use of the timing that will be crucial in the Final Four three-point contest.
“Hopefully, he’ll go out there and win that thing,” Frazier said. “He wants to win it, so that’s what we worked on. How can we get him to win it?”
There’s clearly a difference between coaching a player like Reeves, who has spent five years in college, and Somto Cyril and Karter Knox, who have not yet played a college game. However, there are still similarities.
“Even as good as Antonio is shooting the ball, there are still things that I’m teaching Karter that both those guys will benefit from in terms of their footwork and things like that,” Frazier said.
Although, the attention to detail is much higher at the college level in preparation for the draft. For Knox and Cyril, the focus is just putting the ball in the basket.
“At the collegiate level, going up against any school, they’re not going to spend a whole lot of time on those details,” Frazier said. “If the ball is going in, hell, why would I change it?”
