‘Came here on a mission.’ UK basketball recruit Karter Knox is adapting at Overtime Elite.

Karter Knox is settled.

Finally.

The modern-day life of a prep basketball star is a seemingly endless slew of high school games, travel basketball tournaments and summer all-star showcases.

And on top of this is often a high-profile college recruitment, and all that goes with that: Discussions with college coaches, visits to schools and time spent with family mapping out the best path forward.

Fortunately for Knox, he’s now in the home stretch of these activities.

A 6-foot-6 prospect who is ranked by the Recruiting Services Consensus Index — which combines the rankings from the nation’s top recruiting services into one single metric — as the No. 11 player in the 2024 class, Knox went through an offseason of change.

After helping lead his Florida Rebels travel team to the prestigious Nike EYBL Peach Jam in the summer, Knox sat down and made several big decisions.

At the end of July, Knox moved from Tampa (Florida) Catholic High School to the Atlanta-based Overtime Elite (OTE) setup for his final high school basketball season. In October, Knox released a list of his final four post-OTE playing options: Kentucky, Louisville, South Florida and the NBA’s G-League Ignite program.

With those choices now made, Knox’s new basketball life is underway in Atlanta.

“Definitely a great move coming to OTE for my senior year,” Knox told the Herald-Leader in a one-on-one interview Wednesday afternoon inside OTE’s practice gym. “Just hoping to get better. ... It’s definitely been working out.”

Knox — a younger brother of former UK Wildcat and 2018 NBA draft lottery pick Kevin Knox — is on the same OTE team (RWE) as Somto Cyril, who is one of four Kentucky signees in the 2024 recruiting class.

These influences, combined with the success that former OTE player Rob Dillingham has had through nine games at Kentucky this season, have led many to conclude that Knox is a likely Wildcat.

He would be a welcomed addition to Kentucky’s 2024 recruiting class: That group currently includes two guards (Boogie Fland and Travis Perry) and two big men (Somto Cyril and Jayden Quaintance) and ranks as the second-best recruiting haul in the nation, although it lacks the kind of dynamic, versatile wing presence Knox offers.

But don’t hold your breath on Knox announcing his post-OTE plans anytime soon. Knox told the Herald-Leader he’s not sure when that announcement will come.

For now, Knox remains focused on his day-to-day work in Atlanta, and the on-court improvement that could see him follow his older brother’s footsteps as an NBA draft first-round selection.

“(I’ve) definitely improved in just making my shots. Being a shot creator, playmaking. Just getting better every day, just getting shots up every day,” Knox said. “I’ve been working on ball handling, defense.”

Defense, efficient shots are improvements for Karter Knox to make

Kentucky basketball fans pining for a preview of what future Wildcats will offer should be familiar with Corey Frazier by now.

Frazier began as a pro-skills trainer at OTE, and is now the head coach of the RWE team that features both Cyril and Knox.

A former college guard at Saint Louis who played against UK in the 1998 NCAA Tournament, Frazier’s areas of focus with Knox have included defense, shot selection and playing hard consistently.

“He can definitely shoot it ... Karter is in transition and he’s learning who he is as a basketball player,” Frazier said. “Finding his strengths and his weaknesses: When your shot is not going, how can we help you evolve to be a different type of player.”

Frazier has identified Paul Pierce (offensively) and Metta Sandiford-Artest — formerly known as Ron Artest — (defensively) as two player archetypes for Knox to try to emulate.

“So far it’s been working. The shot selection has gotten better. He’s not getting so antsy about ‘I’ve got to get the ball,’” Frazier said. “He’s gotten a lot better at screening to free himself up. He’s starting to learn the game through a different lens, which is good to see.”

The basketball-focused environment that is OTE’s calling card has also allowed Knox to improve on the already-strong aspects of his game.

Knox is known as a three-level scorer. He’s a player who possesses a strong frame, while also having the length to close down on shooters and the burst to accelerate in transition.

All aspects of his game are getting refinement at OTE.

“I take constructive criticism,” Knox said, before spelling out how OTE coaches and teammates have given him pointers on how to improve on the floor, while also encouraging him to get more work in after hours.

On a whiteboard inside the OTE practice gym, Knox is credited with having put up more than 10,000 shots in practice settings.

Practices and games at OTE, both against in-house and outside competition, offer chances for Knox to fine-tune his game against players of comparable skill level.

In addition to going up against a player like Cyril in practice, Knox has already played this season against the following college signees: Guard Trey Parker (N.C. State), guard Jaeden Mustaf (Georgia Tech), guard Ian Jackson (North Carolina), forward Jahki Howard (Auburn), center John Bol (Ole Miss) and center Peyton Marshall (Missouri).

Over the admittedly small sample size of three OTE regular season games, Knox is averaging more than 22 points and 7 rebounds per contest.

“There’s competition every day. You know, the best of the best,” Knox said of OTE. “... (Corey) Frazier is getting us ready for the next level.”

“I came here on a mission,” Knox added.

Given the influx of Kentucky basketball media members and fans set to descend on Atlanta ahead of Saturday’s CBS Sports Classic showdown between UK and North Carolina, it’s no accident that Knox and RWE will be playing both Thursday and Friday night at the 1,200-person capacity OTE Arena in Atlanta’s Atlantic Station neighborhood.

Karter Knox to choose between Kentucky, Louisville and others

It bears repeating that Knox hasn’t set a timetable for announcing the next step in his basketball career.

That decision isn’t likely to arrive until the spring, but in the meantime Knox is doing his homework on the four options in front of him.

Kentucky offers familiarity and a proven track record of success. John Calipari helped mold Kevin Knox into the ninth overall pick in the 2018 NBA draft. While in Lexington, the elder Knox brother helped the Wildcats win the SEC Tournament.

“Kentucky is a good program, there’s a lot of lottery picks on that team,” Knox said. “Coach Cal is a great coach.”

For what its worth, Knox told the Herald-Leader that Cyril has kept up his efforts to recruit Knox to Lexington.

Louisville head coach Kenny Payne was UK’s associate head coach that season, and later worked with Kevin while Payne was an assistant coach with the NBA’s New York Knicks. When Karter visited his older brother in New York City, he would sometimes work out with Payne.

“Louisville had a bad season last year, but they’re way better this year,” Knox said. “They’ve got Kenny Payne, a great coach. He’s working on something over there.”

On the surface, South Florida seems a peculiar choice to be on Karter’s shortlist. Some of that mystery goes away when you note that another Knox brother, Kobe, is a redshirt sophomore guard for the Bulls and first-year head coach Amir Abdur-Rahim (a former Georgia and Texas A&M assistant coach).

“USF (is) the hometown. (Abdur-Rahim) is a good coach there,” Knox said of the Bulls.

Then there’s the G-League Ignite, the direct-to-pro option that has snatched several would-be college stars in recent years. ESPN recently included four players from the G-League Ignite in a list of the top 25 prospects for next year’s draft.

“It’s always a good option,” Knox said of the G-League Ignite.

These are the options in front of Karter Knox.

What will be the key factor in his choice?

Knox says paramount to his decision is the ability to spend one year at his next stop, before entering the NBA draft.

“I just want to be a one-and-done,” Knox said.