Kentucky continues OTE pipeline with Jordan Burks addition
Beginning in the fall of 2022, Atlanta’s Overtime Elite began offering a scholarship option for participating student-athletes, a chance to turn down a salary and ensuing professional designation in favor of maintaining college eligibility.
Five-star guard Rob Dillingham, a member of Donda Academy (CA) at the time, joined Kentucky‘s top-ranked recruiting class last June. And after a public breakup with Kanye West’s failed startup program, the native of Hickory, NC was forced to find a new high school to close out his senior year. That’s when he found OTE and the Cold Hearts — one of six teams within the Atlanta-based hybrid basketball league — giving the Wildcats their first-ever signee from the program.
“It was good (having Dillingham at OTE), he’s a great guy,” the Wildcat freshman’s former Cold Hearts teammate, Jayden Williams, told KSR. “Makes everybody smile, likes joking around. On the court, he’s going to go to war. He’s a dog. He was a great teammate, great passer and can obviously score the ball very well.
“I didn’t see any (weaknesses), to be honest. Me personally, I didn’t see any. I’m not sure what other people would say, but for me, he didn’t have any. Overall, he’s just a great guy.”
“Really good point guard, really shifty. He’s a playmaker who sees everything on the floor. And he’s a high-level scorer, obviously. He can really shoot it, too,” fellow Cold Hearts teammate Naasir Cunningham added. “He’s a chill dude, doesn’t talk to as many people as other people [laughs]. But if you’re cool with him, he’s really funny. Kind of likes to stay out of the way a little bit, but he’s a really good person.”
Dillingham would finish his lone season at OTE averaging 14.7 points, 4.9 assists, 3.5 rebounds and 2.5 steals per contest, a productive tune-up year leading up to his time in Lexington. He’s already arrived on campus, going through freshman orientation and participating in John Calipari’s summer youth camps, along with individual workouts inside the Joe Craft Center to get his feet wet as a student-athlete.
Set to join him with the Wildcats? OTE leading scorer and Hillcrest Prep standout Jordan Burks, who announced his commitment to Kentucky on Monday, giving the program its sixth addition among freshmen. The three-star forward’s pledge comes following an official visit to Lexington last week.
He moved into the Wildcat Coal Lodge on Sunday and has already signed with the program, sources tell KSR.
The 6-foot-9 prospect out of Decatur, AL led the entire six-team league this past season with 27.1 points per contest on 46.7% shooting, 26.7% from three and 67% at the line to go with 7.5 rebounds, 2.9 assists and 1.4 steals per contest.
What is Kentucky getting in Burks?
“Jordan, I’ve known him since last year, playing for the Florida Rebels,” Williams told KSR. “He’s a dog and he’s going to get in his bag. He’ll score the ball, he’s going to play defense, he can do everything.”
“I’ve played against him a couple of times,” Cunningham added. “He’s like a big guard who can really shoot it and handle it. He’s really good off the dribble.”
The versatile scoring threat previously signed with Ole Miss before backing out in March following the departure of head coach Kermit Davis in Oxford. Now, he’s taking his talents to Kentucky, joining another member of the OTE family in Dillingham.
And they might not be the only two — a third is likely and potentially imminent.
Another OTE standout — this time a teammate of Dillingham with the Cold Hearts — was on campus for an official visit this past weekend and could join the program as an immediate enrollee for the upcoming 2023-24 season. Four-star center Somto Cyril is technically a class of 2024 recruit, but walked as a high school graduate in May and is inching toward reclassification status, paving way for his potential addition this summer.
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That visit ran from Thursday to Saturday, and assuming there are no last-second academic hurdles, he should be completely cleared in the coming weeks.
What would Kentucky be getting in the 6-10, 240-pound center out of Enugu, Nigeria? His OTE teammates are optimistic he can be an immediate contributor while also being a positive impact in the locker room.
“High-energy player and a great defensive player,” Cunningham told KSR. “In my opinion, he’s the best big in the country. He’s a great shot-blocker and a great team leader, someone who talks a lot in the locker room, really vocal. Honestly, he’s just an all-around good player.
“His physicality and defensive abilities (stand out). I’ve never seen Somto let anybody get off of him in the paint that much. And then on top of that, on offense, he’s hard to stop in the paint. … He’s really goofy, really funny. That’s my boy. He’s a really fun and energetic guy, good vibes being around him.”
“Somto, he’s a character who is always going to make you laugh, make you smile. On the court, same as Rob, he’s going to go to war and give you everything he’s got,” Williams added. “His athleticism and his height (will make him an early-impact player). He’s about, I don’t know, dang near seven-foot. He’s a great rebounder, he’s going to block shots and he’s also going to score in the paint.”
What will the adjustment be like for Dillingham, Burks and potentially Cyril going from OTE to Lexington? And what should Kentucky fans expect adding a trio of pieces from the startup league as freshmen? Williams and Cunningham were pleased with their individual experiences in Atlanta and believe the program helped prepare them for the next level.
“I loved it, got better every day,” the former said. “Just being in the gym, meeting new people and learning from different coaches.”
“It’s definitely what I expected it to be, it was really beneficial to me being around a lot of high-level players,” the latter added. “Draft prospects, college prospects, everything. I felt like it helped us grow our pro habits, pro habits most people don’t get at a regular high school. I feel like we’re a level ahead of everybody else already. It’s a really good head start and the development was great.”
Two OTE standouts down in Dillingham and Burks, one to go in Cyril.
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