Jasper Johnson, Tay Kinney teaming up together at OTE

We don’t know for sure if Mark Pope rigged the Overtime Elite draft, but if he did, then I offer a long hat tip to the head coach.

Because if he did, that’s a pretty sneaky recruiting tactic. On Tuesday night, Overtime Elite held its annual draft ahead of the 2024-25 season. The first overall pick by RWE (Rod Wave Elite) was 2026 point guard Tay Kinney, who hails from Newport, KY, and recently transferred out of state for his junior season. Kinney is the No. 25 overall prospect in his class according to the On3 Industry Ranking. He received an offer from Pope and Kentucky last month.

As fate would have it, Kinney will team up alongside another Bluegrass native, one who is already committed to the Wildcats and has been playing the role of recruiter ever since. Five-star 2025 shooting guard Jasper Johnson was picked up by RWE in round six of the draft, just one spot after fellow five-star guard Meleek Thomas was taken by the City Reapers.

“I like the team. Me and Taylen, we were talking about that in the summertime when he had committed to Overtime, talking about teaming up and stuff like that,” Johnson said on the Sources Say podcast not long after the draft. “Finally seeing us on the same team is gonna be a good feeling.”

Meleek Thomas & Jasper Johnson go back to back in INSANE FASHION 🤯 @ThomasMeleek @BruhJasperJ pic.twitter.com/qEsKX1qKYM

— Overtime Elite (@OvertimeElite) September 18, 2024

But was there any funny business from Pope (or even Johnson/Kinney) to make this happen? Probably not, but it sure makes for a fun storyline. It also couldn’t have worked out better for Kentucky. Kinney is a clear priority for the new coaching staff in 2026 as another homegrown product and he’ll have a future Wildcat playing next to him (and hyping up the ‘Cats in his ear) for an entire season.

“It definitely works in our best interest to team up,” Johnson added.

An interesting angle of this teaming up between Johnson and Kinney is how the two will play together. Kinney is more of a traditional point guard than Johnson, but he co-existed (and thrived) with another ball handler throughout the spring and summer on the AAU circuit. Johnson is more of a shooter than a ball-dominant player, although he did say on Sources Say that his main goal this season is to develop his skills as a lead guard.

That cross-training at the guard positions should benefit Johnson as he inches closer to his college career at Kentucky. In Pope’s offense, he doesn’t necessarily need a “true point guard”, but he does need someone who can at least get others involved. Johnson will use the next year to develop into that kind of player.

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