Overtime Select has rapidly become a hub for the top women’s basketball recruits in the country. From Aaliyah Chavez to Kaleena Smith, the program is helping to build the next generation of stars. But it isn’t just about their performance on the court. While still an important factor, Overtime Select is more than just gameplay […]
Overtime Select has rapidly become a hub for the top women’s basketball recruits in the country. From Aaliyah Chavez to Kaleena Smith, the program is helping to build the next generation of stars.
But it isn’t just about their performance on the court. While still an important factor, Overtime Select is more than just gameplay — it’s a platform that teaches young athletes how to build their brand and navigate the media landscape of college and professional basketball.
From the time players arrive in Atlanta (GA) to the time they leave, they spend just as many hours in front of a camera as they do on the court.
“The mindset is that it’s not basketball, it’s media,” Shea Dawson, Senior Director of Athlete Relations and Partnership Development, told Rivals. “It’s entertainment. The basketball part always takes care of itself…The intent as we curate these spaces for athletes is to teach them along the way, through exposure of different types of content, how things can level up their basketball prowess.”
Overtime Select doesn’t just tell the players this is possible — they show it. Former recruits such as Juju Watkins, Paige Bueckers and Flau’jae Johnson have all participated to illustrate the success that can come from pairing elite talent with a strong media presence.
That environment has also opened doors many of the girls didn’t even realize existed. For some, the biggest revelation wasn’t about basketball at all, but about careers after it. Seeing young, female content creators, producers, and videographers has inspired athletes to imagine their own futures in sports media.
“They’re kind of seeing that they could be them immediately,” Dawson said. “Then they’re like, ‘I know what I want to do.’ That was the first time I ever heard an athlete say, ‘Actually, I know what I want to do after basketball.’ I’ve never heard that before, until they came here.”
Still, Dawson admits the process hasn’t been seamless. The first year taught the Overtime staff that building rosters isn’t just about talent. Personalities, rivalries and chemistry all play a role. Bringing together dozens of the nation’s best players can be an imperfect experiment.
Yet even those challenges mirror what players will soon face at the college level.
“You want to win an Overtime Select championship, but it’s not detrimental to the outcome of who you’re going to be one day,” Dawson said. “But it’s kind of a linchpin. Having that experience before it actually means something is kind of a beautiful thing.”
Above all, the focus is on the athletes themselves. If something isn’t working, Overtime makes it a priority to adapt.
“You can just tell that they want what’s best for you…,” top 2026 recruit Oliviyah Edwards told Rivals. “They’re here for us. They ask us what we want to do and that’s what I really like. They’re really trying to set us up for success.”
Category: General Sports
