Tay Kinney surprised his mother by buying her a car for Christmas. (Overtime Elite Photo)
Corey Frazier has been working with players from the high school level to the NBA for over 20 year and understands how special Taylen Kinney could be.
“I have had some really good backcourts before but Taylen Kinney might be the most efficient player I have ever coached,” said Frazier, coach of Kinney’s Overtime Elite team. “I always thought (current NBA star) Bradley Beal was the most efficient player I had ever coached but Taylen might be the most efficient at age 17.
“We run a three-guard offense with Taylen, (Kentucky signee) Jasper Johnson and Parker Robinson. They can each score 20, so that’s an issue. Taylen knows him or Jasper will have the ball in their hands at the end of the game. For them to play really well off each other, it has been an adjustment for Taylen having to understand he does not have to do everything.”
Kinney, Johnson and their RWE teammates will be in Versailles Sunday night as part of the Court XIV Classic at Woodford County High School honoring the memory of Alvis Johnson, Jasper’s grandfather. RWE will play Huntington Prep at 7 p.m. after host Woodford plays Taylor County and North Laurel plays Trinity.
Kinney played at Newport High School before switching to Overtime Elite in Atlanta this season. The 6-1, 170-pound junior led Newport to the state tourney in 2023 and 2024 and helped Newport win the All “A” Classic in 2024.
Kinney, 17, is a five-star recruit, averaged 17.5 points per game his sophomore season at Newport and shot 48 percent from the field. He is averaging 21.3 points (sixth best in the league), 6.4 assists, 4.9 rebounds, 2.5 steals and 31.4 minutes per game. He’s shooting 68.8 percent from 2-point range and 37.5 from 3.
Kinney has raised his national ranking to where he’s a top 20 player in the 2026 recruiting class. Frazier said Kinney has put in time in the weight room to get stronger which has allowed him to be more aggressive going to the rim.
Frazier said he gets “calls about him all the time” and Kinney has narrowed his possible college choices to 15, including Kentucky. Others on the list are Alabama, Arkansas, Auburn, Cincinnati, Georgia, Illinois, Kansas, Kansas State, Louisville, Notre Dame, Oregon, Purdue, Tennessee and Xavier.
“I don’t think everybody understands what we do here. Our job is to develop guys. With him for some it was wait and see how he does and now it is hurry up and get a good seat on the bus,” Frazier said. “He lets the game come to him.
“He is going to impact the game and in the fourth quarter he will make every single play happen on defense and offense. People know they better get here to see him now.”
Kinney was a three-year starter at Newport and would have been one of the top players in Kentucky this season if he had not transferred to Overtime Elite where he can devote even more time to his basketball skills.
Frazier said he has become a better shooter and was shooting 71 percent from the field at one point this season.
“His midrange game is deadly. He doesn’t miss,” Frazier said. “He doesn’t take a lot of 3’s but the ones that count, he takes. His shooting has been light out.”
He might be even better on the defensive end.
“Sometimes we put him on the other team’s best player. He is so much stronger now than when he got here. He is able to press you, bump you going to the basket,” Frazier said. “His athleticism and vertical have increased.”
Frazier knows fans will turn out to watch Johnson play Sunday, especially since he is a Kentucky signee and played two years at Woodford. But he doesn’t think anyone who comes to the Court XIV Classic will be disappointed in what they see from Kinney.
“He is a show. That boy is unbelievable in terms of energy and how fast he can get end to end,” Frazier said. “Even on an NBA size court, he is super fast. He’s well worth coming to see.”
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Tickets can be purchased here.
