The Overtime Elite (OTE) Finals began Friday night at Overitne Arena in the heart of Atlantic Station. Amongst the bright lights, loud music, screaming fans, and large video monitors were a pair of Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets recruits.
The City Reapers and RWE are playing for this season’s championship, and on either team is a player looking to help Yellow Jackets first-year head coach and former NBA star Damon Stoudamire in the near future. Class of 2023 small forward Darrion Sutton, a 6-foot-8 Missouri native, plays for RWE. Sutton came off the bench Friday night, entering the game at the 5:25 mark of the first quarter.
Class of 2024 high-ranking recruit Jaeden Mustaf, a 6-foot-5 guard, started the game at point guard for the City Reapers. Mustaf, a playmaker, had to take the scoring lead for his team, scoring the first four points of the game on a jumper and a drive. Mustaf is the son of former University of Maryland star and NBA player Jerrod Mustaf.
Both players will be crucial to the Yellow Jackets’ future. This season has had a number of ups and downs for the program. The Yellow Jackets are currently 14-16 overall, with a 7-12 conference record. The current three-game win streak is the longest of the season and just so happens to be coming as the team heads into the ACC tournament.
The Yellow Jackets will close the ACC regular season at the University of Virginia on Saturday night.
Atlanta native Bryson Tiller is also being recruited by Georgia Tech and starts at power forward for the City Reapers. Georgia State University commit Jason Jackson, a 6-foot-3 guard out of Sarasota, Florida, plays for RWE and saw playing time during game one. Class of 2027 guard Jayden Wilkins, the son of former McDonald’s All-American and former NBA player Damien Wilkins, OTE’s general manager, rounds out the Atlanta-born players in the game. Wilkins is on the RWE roster.
Game one of the finals also included an interesting matchup of 7-footers in City Reapers center Jah Jackson (Class of 2023) and RWE big man Peyton Marshall (2024, the Marietta native is committed to the University of Missouri).
Photo by Donnell Suggs/The Atlanta Voice