The 6-foot-5 Plainfield native was offered a high-six-figure salary to leave his high school and join the fledgling Overtime Elite league, a semiprofessional basketball league based in Atlanta. Overtime also has an academy that is an accredited institution with certified teachers, which allows the student-athletes to earn high school diplomas — rather than GEDs — and begin taking college-level courses. In the summer of 2021, league officials communicated the offer to Simeon’s father, Sergio.
But the family decided that Simeon — the fourth of five siblings, and the youngest of the four Wilcher boys (he was 17 at the time) — should stay in high school and enjoy a more traditional experience.
“You always got to love the regular high school stuff, like prom, graduation,” Simeon said earlier this season. “All of that is needed, that’s memories that you’ll never be able to get back.”
Sergio Wilcher, who has four sons with his wife Kim, including, C.J., a 6-5 sophomore guard at Nebraska, said at the time of the Overtime offer: “He’s still a child, a 17-year-old junior, and you’re still learning how to navigate life in itself, all the way around. Last year, we weren’t having dating conversations, now it’s a topic of conversation. ... Yes, I do believe my kids are going to play basketball for money, so you have to have a different type of sense of who you are before you go in the world. You have to learn how to say no because you can’t spread yourself too thin. You have people who are trying to professionally get at you and take what you have and take advantage of that situation.”
In October 2021, two months after the Overtime Elite offer, Wilcher, an honor roll student with a 3.3 GPA, committed to the University of North Carolina. This past November, during a signing day celebration at his high school that included his parents and Roselle Catholic coach Dave Boff, he signed his letter of intent to play for the Tar Heels beginning next season.
[https://cdn.magzter.com/1390939488/1685990646/articles/aS-PFnqLr1686837336549/7888787878.jpg]
WHAT IS OVERTIME ELITE?
Announced in March 2021, Overtime Elite initially raised $140 million in funding from Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, hip hop star Drake and more than 25 current and former NBA players, including Kevin Durant and Carmelo Anthony.
The semi-pro league — aimed at 16- to 18-year-olds — was an outgrowth of Overtime, which was founded in 2016, has over 250 employees and distributes original sports content to a community of over 75 million fans and followers.
After a slow start, Overtime Elite signed 15 players from the U.S. and overseas for its inaugural season in 2021-22. The league said every player received a minimum salary of $100,000.
But ahead of the league’s second season in 2022-23, Overtime changed course by allowing what it calls a scholarship option, whereby players do not get paid but retain their college eligibility while still being able to earn income through endorsement deals, the same way college athletes have been able to do through so-called Name, Image and Likeness deals.
Another New Jersey prep star, Naasir Cunningham, in consultation with his father, chose that option and joined Overtime Elite after his sophomore season at Gill St. Bernard’s in Gladstone.
“The skill development, being able to play against top players every day, it’s like there’s no room for slacking, there’s no room to goof off,” Cunningham said in January when Overtime Elite played exhibitions against high school all-star teams, including one that featured Wilcher, at Roselle Catholic. “You’re always going to be working, you’re always getting better.”
Many of the league’s players hope they will wind up in the NBA, just like Dominick Barlow, a 6-10 forward from Dumont, who played for Overtime Elite last season an...
But the family decided that Simeon — the fourth of five siblings, and the youngest of the four Wilcher boys (he was 17 at the time) — should stay in high school and enjoy a more traditional experience.
“You always got to love the regular high school stuff, like prom, graduation,” Simeon said earlier this season. “All of that is needed, that’s memories that you’ll never be able to get back.”
Sergio Wilcher, who has four sons with his wife Kim, including, C.J., a 6-5 sophomore guard at Nebraska, said at the time of the Overtime offer: “He’s still a child, a 17-year-old junior, and you’re still learning how to navigate life in itself, all the way around. Last year, we weren’t having dating conversations, now it’s a topic of conversation. ... Yes, I do believe my kids are going to play basketball for money, so you have to have a different type of sense of who you are before you go in the world. You have to learn how to say no because you can’t spread yourself too thin. You have people who are trying to professionally get at you and take what you have and take advantage of that situation.”
In October 2021, two months after the Overtime Elite offer, Wilcher, an honor roll student with a 3.3 GPA, committed to the University of North Carolina. This past November, during a signing day celebration at his high school that included his parents and Roselle Catholic coach Dave Boff, he signed his letter of intent to play for the Tar Heels beginning next season.
[https://cdn.magzter.com/1390939488/1685990646/articles/aS-PFnqLr1686837336549/7888787878.jpg]
WHAT IS OVERTIME ELITE?
Announced in March 2021, Overtime Elite initially raised $140 million in funding from Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, hip hop star Drake and more than 25 current and former NBA players, including Kevin Durant and Carmelo Anthony.
The semi-pro league — aimed at 16- to 18-year-olds — was an outgrowth of Overtime, which was founded in 2016, has over 250 employees and distributes original sports content to a community of over 75 million fans and followers.
After a slow start, Overtime Elite signed 15 players from the U.S. and overseas for its inaugural season in 2021-22. The league said every player received a minimum salary of $100,000.
But ahead of the league’s second season in 2022-23, Overtime changed course by allowing what it calls a scholarship option, whereby players do not get paid but retain their college eligibility while still being able to earn income through endorsement deals, the same way college athletes have been able to do through so-called Name, Image and Likeness deals.
Another New Jersey prep star, Naasir Cunningham, in consultation with his father, chose that option and joined Overtime Elite after his sophomore season at Gill St. Bernard’s in Gladstone.
“The skill development, being able to play against top players every day, it’s like there’s no room for slacking, there’s no room to goof off,” Cunningham said in January when Overtime Elite played exhibitions against high school all-star teams, including one that featured Wilcher, at Roselle Catholic. “You’re always going to be working, you’re always getting better.”
Many of the league’s players hope they will wind up in the NBA, just like Dominick Barlow, a 6-10 forward from Dumont, who played for Overtime Elite last season an...
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Jersey's Best (Digital) - 1 Issue, Summer 2023