When I’m escaping the darkness of the harsh reality of my calculus homework, I scour Instagram reels. One of the first things that I always see is an Overtime post.
Whether it’s a remarkable play or a funny blooper from professional or collegiate sports, a throwback post highlighting both mind blowing and hilarious moments from a past game, an absurd stat line, promoting their own league through high and lowlights, sharing opinions on players and teams, or just a funny meme that the Overtime admin wanted to share, they’ve got it all.
Social Media has taken over the sports world. Sports have become all about the entertainment value, in which professional leagues are limited. That’s where Overtime comes in. As the pinnacle of sports media and entertainment, Overtime has caught the eye of young sports fans across the country. It has many different facets, but what they are known for is their sports content. This content comes in many different ways, such as videos, images, reactions, updates, live streams, and more. On social media, they report on current sport news, have analysts talking about sports, and producing all kinds of sports media.
Furthermore, Overtime created their own basketball league, where premier high school ballers are drafted to the very selective Overtime teams. These teams battle it out, producing as many highlights and fun moments as they can, which is documented by both the players and overtime crew themselves.
Not all Overtime athletes are going to make it to the league. In fact, a vast majority of these athletes aren’t even close to playing basketball at the professional level. The one thing these athletes all have, though, is personality. They are the new and improved Harlem Globetrotters for young adults – uber competitive and skilled, yet funny and constantly having a great time.
Overtime is also a great opportunity for the athletes to get their name out, even if it’s not sports related. These athletes are all looking to make highlights and create viral moments. This is controversial to the sports conservationists, or people who think that sports should be played to win. I personally don’t enjoy watching Overtime athletes play for that reason. Nobody plays to win, they all play for highlights. This leads to no defense being played and very high scoring games, which is exciting for young kids and aggravating for the avid basketball fan.
Many times these athletes have to travel long distances and miss lots of school to play for Overtime, which is a life altering commitment. However, it’s worth it as they teach the kids about media, in hopes of helping them with their career.
Most of all, Overtime is a business. And this business has a very, very popular brand. Every time that I walk down the street I see a young kid with the iconic O logo. Over the summer I was a camp counselor, and almost all of the kids at camp wore Overtime gear.
I am lucky enough to have played against one unique Overtime Athlete on many occasions. Troy Hornbeck, better known as “The road to d1 guy,” has recently emerged on the social media scene. His claim to fame is his Instagram and TikTok account that tracks his progress. He posts the workouts that he completes each day with a voiceover explaining what he’s doing and why. He’s embraced content creation, as he entices viewers to stay on the video and keep up with his journey. He shows his daily progression, reminding the fans to tune in tomorrow. This hooks the viewer in, provoking them to keep returning to his page over and over again. This is evidently working, as he currently has 338,500 followers on TikTok and 264,000 followers on Instagram. Troy attended Brooklyn Tech High School, where he averaged 10 points, 6 rebounds, and 3 assists. Furthermore, I have friends on both his AAU and school team, and mutual friends of his, and they all say he’s simply not that good, yet his work ethic is unmatched. I’ve played against him plenty of times and he really isn’t impressive. But, because of the social media success, he was able to transfer into Taft private school to pursue his basketball dreams. Furthermore, Overtime invited him to a combine and tryouts down in Atlanta for him to join their OTE league. They loved his content and wanted to use his fame to attract viewers while simultaneously helping him on his journey by providing exposure.
Other Overtime athletes, though, are the real deal. The Thompson twins were both lottery draft picks, who shockingly were taken back to back, one right after the other. Amen Thompson went 4th to the Houston Rockets and Ausar Thompson got drafted 5th to the Detroit Pistons. These two, each having very successful rookie seasons, were tearing up the NBA last year, and are looking to take another step up heading into their sophomore years. Overtime helped boost their draft stock by getting them ready for the professional environment of the NBA, and boosted their popularity, as Amen has 341,000 Instagram followers and Ausar has 301,000.
Rob Dillingham, who left OTE for Kentucky last year, was also a lottery pick, with the Minnesota Timberwolves taking him 8th in this past draft. Analysts, with the likes of Stephen A. Smith, Ernie Johnson, and Adrian Woj, expect him to have an amazing rookie season with the veteran help of the experienced Mike Conley, and playing alongside one of the best players in the NBA right now, Anthony Edwards. Rob has one of the most entertaining highlight tapes ever, helping him create a diehard fan base without him even stepping foot on an NBA court yet. His mini college highlight tape has 166 thousand views, which is extraordinary. Also, he’s accumulated over a million Instagram followers under the name “robwitdashifts.”
Most of all, Overtime’s a business. And this business has a very, very popular brand. Every time that I walk down the street, I see a young kid with the iconic O logo.