Kentucky recruit Tay Kinney will play tournament with OTE in Abu Dhabi this month

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Photo of Tay Kinney (left) and Mark Pope via X/Twitter: @Taylen_0

For the second straight year, Overtime Elite is sending a team to the Adidas Next Generation EuroLeague — and this time, a top Kentucky recruit will make the trip.

Overtime Elite is sending 10 players to represent the league in this year’s ANGE event, which will be held in Abu Dhabi from May 22-25. Among the 10 talented prospects is Bluegrass native Tay Kinney, who was a member of OTE’s Rod Wave Elite last season (alongside future Kentucky guard Jasper Johnson). Kinney is considered a four-star recruit and is ranked No. 18 overall in the 2026 cycle by On3.

OTE went 2-1 in the event last year, notably pulling off a 102-98 upset win over FC Barcelona. Below is this year’s schedule. All games will be streamed live on OTE’s YouTube Channel.

Thursday, May 22nd – Overtime Elite vs Real Madrid | 8:45 a.m. ET
Friday, May 23rd – Overtime Elite vs Pole France INSEP Paris | 8:45 a.m. ET
Saturday, May 24th – Overtime Elite vs Zalgiris Kaunas | 8:45 a.m. ET

We’re hooping in Abu Dhabi 🚨

Our 2025 ANGE roster is locked in 🔥 @EuroLeague pic.twitter.com/tcq5QwtwQH
— Overtime Elite (@OvertimeElite) May 8, 2025

Kentucky head coach Mark Pope has made Kinney a clear priority out of the high school ranks. The 6-foot-2 point guard received an offer from Pope last summer, and the two sides have remained in constant contact ever since. Pope, along with assistant coaches Jason Hart and Cody Fueger, even made an in-home visit to see Kinney last month.

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Kinney has already taken an official visit to Purdue and has plans to OV at UK and Louisville in the future. Xavier coaches visited him at his house last month, too.

“(Kentucky) had a great year, you know. Made it to the Sweet Sixteen with all transfers,” Kinney told On3 last month. “You know, they got Jasper (Johnson) coming in. I like what (Pope) did to that program. Jasper is on me every day, just saying, ‘Come to Kentucky. Come to Kentucky.’

“Coach Pope is really outgoing. He’s real funny, but he’s real cool though.”

A native of northern Kentucky who began his high school career at Newport, Kinney made the move to OTE last summer. He averaged 20.1 points, five assists, four rebounds, and 2.3 steals per outing for OTE’s RWE in 2024-25. He shot 55.6 percent from the field and 33.3 percent from deep. He’s expected to return to the league in 2025-26 for his senior high school season.