Overtime Elite signs five-star prospect in Tyler Smith, the No. 15 recruit in Class of 2023

Five-star prospect Tyler Smith, rated in the 247Sports Composite as the No. 3 power forward recruit in the Class of 2023 and the No. 15 overall prospect, signed with Overtime Elite on Monday to become the 16th player to join the league ahead of its inaugural season.

Smith is a 6-foot-10, 205 pound power forward from Richmond, Texas. One of four incoming five-star prospects to join the league, he chose Overtime Elite, a startup professional path, over a number of college offers including from Baylor, Texas, Kansas, Auburn and Arkansas. 

“Tyler Smith is the definition of a modern big; he’s long, athletic, and has a smooth lefty shooting stroke,” OTE Head Coach Kevin Ollie, who won a national championship with UConn, said in a statement announcing the signing. “We’re ready to get in the gym and in the classroom with Tyler so that he develops into not only an NBA level basketball player, but more importantly into a level 5, world class person.”

OTE offers a guaranteed minimum of six-figure salaries to its players plus bonuses, shares of equity in Overtime and the benefit of — like college — being able to profit off their name, image and likeness through sales of custom jerseys, NFTs, trading cards and video games. 

The signing of Smith signals yet another coup for OTE as it continues to grow in popular in the marketplace as a viable pathway for aspiring pro prospects. Even with colleges like Memphis landing five-star Jalen Duren and the G League Ignite signing five-stars Jaden Hardy and Scoota Henderson, OTE with 16 players has proven it can recruit a full roster and do so at a high level. Between Smith, Jean Montero, Jazian Gortman, Jalen Lewis and the Bewley and Thompson brothers, the league has accumulated NBA-level talent that in time should be able to help attract other similarly talented NBA talents.