do is play basketball and, like, dunk and stuff,” Ausar
says. “Our actual practices are way harder than the
practices I’ve had my whole life. They’re not always
gonna film the work everybody puts in...way before
the cameras start to roll.”
They also go to class: OTE’s academic side has built
a curriculum for the players, most of whom are still
finishing high school. The small class sizes give each
player individual attention and a support system;
OTE’s teachers regularly sit courtside at games.
As with any identical twins, distinguishing Amen
and Ausar can be a challenge. Overtime purposely
placed them on separate teams, which aids scouts in
telling them apart, but the distinctions between their
games are subtle. Both are stellar transition players
and high-f lying athletes with advanced feel for the
game. (At the moment, there’s a critical hole in the
scouting report for each twin: Neither is a consistent
jump shooter yet.) They grew up interchanging
positions as tall, versatile perimeter players.
ON THE MOVE
It became apparent to Troy Thompson that his
sons were special players as they rolled the youth
competition in Oakland. As high school drew closer,
their father felt they needed a tougher challenge.
Following what he describes as a “family wrestling
match” over the future, the twins relocated to
Florida in eighth grade. They would get a chance
to start high school basketball a year early at an
academics-focused private school called Pine Crest
in Fort Lauderdale.
Amen and Ausar grew gradually, with similar
skill sets and unselfish styles that made them
devastating in tandem. They began creeping onto
national recruiting rankings in the summer of- Fresh off leading Pine Crest to Florida’s
4A state title as juniors in the spring of ’21, the
Thompsons, consensus top 40 recruits at the
time, caught the attention of Overtime’s
scouting director, Tim Fuller, at an AAU event.
Colleges were just starting to line up in earnest
for the twins, who would have had their pick of
elite programs.
The idea of an individually tailored, NBA-quality
basketball education—one that focused on the
right areas of their game, eliminated unnecessary
travel, and stress and took the burden off the
family—got OTE in the door with the Thompsons.
The twins agreed they had outgrown their current
environment. There was appeal in trying something
new and personalized.
“We always wanted to go to college and play
March Madness,” Amen says. “But my main goal
was never to be a college star, it’s to make it in the
NBA and be one of the best. And just be ready [for
that]. And I feel like OTE, at the end of the day,
was my best chance of being closer to being an
NBA player.”
And that day might not be far off. Says one
Western Conference scout, “In a gym of kids who
are all high level in their own right, they stand out
almost instantly. Those two are the ones right now
who pop as having the highest potential in terms of
really being lottery picks and impact NBA guys.
The sky’s the limit.” Q
COURTESY OF OVERTIME ELITE (2, ACTION); COURTESY OF THE THOMPSON FAMILY SIKIDS.COM / 51
DOUBLE
TROUBLE
Identical twins
Amen (opposite
page) and Ausar
were the two most
dominant players in
the first season of
OvertimeElite.