Kentucky basketball signee Robert Dillingham opted for Overtime Elite. How has it worked?
Of all the players set to arrive in Lexington as part of Kentucky men’s basketball’s top-ranked 2023 recruiting class, point guard Robert Dillingham is the most mysterious.
His high school career has been the most unconventional among those in the incoming five-player freshman group.
He began at Combine Academy in North Carolina, an international boarding school and professional sports performance center that has quickly become a regional and national hoops powerhouse.
After two seasons at Combine, Dillingham transferred to Donda Academy, the high-profile California private school that was opened by Ye, the artist formerly known as Kanye West.
But this fall, Dillingham changed programs again after Donda Academy was shut down and Ye became the center of controversy after making antisemitic comments.
The end result became Dillingham spending his senior season in Atlanta at Overtime Elite (OTE), a relatively new professional basketball league in Atlanta that offers a prep school-type environment for high school players.
Some OTE players have salaried contracts, while others sign special deals that allow them to make money through name, image and likeness opportunities while keeping their NCAA eligibility intact.
Dillingham falls into the latter group, which is why he will be able to come to Kentucky next school year.
Ranked as the No. 2 point guard and the No. 9 player overall in the 2023 recruiting class by the 247Sports Composite, Dillingham’s reputation as a shifty on-ball presence precedes him. It’s also been his most impressive quality since joining OTE’s Cold Hearts team.
“His skill set, his quickness, his ability to not really get stripped, but maneuver the ball in tight spaces and get through angles and the quick release he has on his shot,” Ryan Gomes — the former Providence standout and NBA veteran who coaches the Cold Hearts team — told the Herald-Leader last week during a sit-down interview in Atlanta.
“I can see why he was highly touted. ... For what he can bring to the table at his size and with his speed and his quickness.”
The 6-foot-2, 165-pound Dillingham has been inconsistent during his lone OTE season.
Through 14 games, the five-star point guard holds per-game averages of 14.7 points, 4.9 assists and 2.5 steals.
This has come on just 33.3% shooting from the field and 31.9% shooting from three-point range. Dillingham is averaging 4.9 assists per game at OTE, but he’s also averaging 3.5 turnovers.
There’s a distinct environment to an OTE season: A 15-game regular season just wrapped up and playoff series are about to begin.
It’s also worth noting that Dillingham faces a completely different profile of player at OTE than in traditional high school basketball, ranging from players ineligible for college basketball because they’re receiving a salary from OTE, to projected NBA Draft lottery picks Amen and Ausar Thompson.
There’s nothing in prep basketball quite like the setup of OTE, which incorporates elements of a boarding school with a 24-7 basketball lifestyle.
Most OTE games are played at the 1,200-capacity OTE Arena in Atlanta’s Atlantic Station neighborhood, a slick and shiny venue that basks in the ethereal glow of its neon light displays.
While so much of this differs from the typical prep basketball experience, those around Dillingham feel he’s grown as a player in the more than three months since he joined OTE.
“His ball handling and shooting ability is so good that the defenders are always going to be focused on him, said Naasir Cunningham, a class of 2024 player on the Cold Hearts who is also maintaining his college eligibility. “So he knows when he’s hot and everybody’s on him, he knows when to hit the next person instead of looking for himself, look for others.”
“Outside the court he’s a good dude, too. He’s just chill. He’s cool with everybody,” added Somto Cyril, a top center prospect in the class of 2024 who also plays on Cold Hearts. “I think he’s a good guy on and off the court.”
College legend who coaches Dillingham hopes to prepare him for UK future
For his part, Gomes understands the change in basketball dynamics that will occur when Dillingham arrives in Lexington in a few months.
Gomes was a first-team All-American at Providence, and is still the all-time leading scorer in Friars’ program history. A second-round selection in the 2005 NBA Draft, Gomes carved out a decade-long playing career in the NBA, the NBA Development League and overseas not only from raw talent, but by mastering the intangibles around more talented players.
Gomes still recalls learning how to set screens for Paul Pierce while with the Boston Celtics, and how to front the post when defending Zach Randolph.
This is part of what Gomes hopes to teach the players he oversees with the Cold Hearts: What is expected from them at the next stage of their basketball careers, and how small tasks can improve an already-talented player.
For a point guard like Dillingham, Gomes points to things like guarding in pick-and-roll defense and showing commitment and effort on both ends of the floor.
While Gomes steered clear of directly comparing Dillingham to any UK point guard of the past, he offered his own insight into what next season’s Kentucky freshman class could accomplish together.
“A lot of the stuff he’s been doing has been talented stuff, one-on-one stuff, but now you’re going to look around and say, ‘Wow. Wow. Wow. Wow. Wow.’” Gomes said. “(Kentucky’s) got seven guys that have a special attribute and they’re gifted at that one thing. ... I know I’m going to have these guys making great plays for me on the back end.”
“The higher talent level you go, the more talent you’re going to play with. So I’m trying to make sure his mind is ready for that environment.”
This story was originally published February 17, 2023 at 7:00 AM.
