Skrilla himself\u00a0christened Kinney<\/a>.<\/p>\nIn Gearding\u2019s mind, Kinney is still the little boy eager to bus tables at the family restaurant, River Front Pizza in Covington, Ky., who would charm customers with smooth dance moves and flirtatious glances. He stocked a piggy bank full of tips, often collecting more cash than some of the most seasoned servers. He\u2019d do anything to earn a stranger\u2019s smile: ham it up during restaurant rush hour, crack a joke, sling a pass to a wide-open teammate and encourage him to drain the shot. Last December, he used some of his Adidas name, image and likeness money to hand out $250 gift cards to underprivileged kids in his hometown.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s outgoing,\u201d Gearding said, \u201cbut he\u2019s never been big-headed.\u201d<\/p>\n
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Taylen Kinney and his grandfather, Rodney Gearding, are embracing where the \u201c6-7\u201d trend takes them. (Courtesy of the Kinney family)<\/p>\n
Kinney fell hard in the fourth grade. Wearing new Jordan 11s, he hung 54 points on a team full of sixth-graders \u2014 \u201cTay\u2019s always played up,\u201d his grandpa bragged \u2014 hitting the game-winner and relishing the mob of teammates who shrieked and celebrated around him.<\/p>\n
Growing up in Newport, Ky., about 100 miles northeast of Louisville, Kinney tried other sports. Football didn\u2019t stick because \u201cI wasn\u2019t really liking the contact\u201d and baseball \u201cwas way too boring.\u201d<\/p>\n
That visual of a little kid sitting crisscross-applesauce in the outfield picking dandelions? That was Kinney, who used to balance his glove on his head for laughs.<\/p>\n
So he dedicated himself to hoops, rising early to get shots up with his stepdad before classes started. He\u2019d go to school, go to practice and then stay late to shoot more. He started as point guard for the varsity team as an eighth-grader and told his family, \u201cI don\u2019t ever wanna lose this spot. Basketball is what I wanna do.\u201d<\/p>\n
After playing his first two years of high school at Newport, Kinney moved to Atlanta to join OTE, the prep school basketball factory featuring more than 100 of the nation\u2019s best prospects. In the past few years, OTE has produced lottery picks like Amen and Ausar Thompson, Frenchman Alex Sarr and former Kentucky standout Rob Dillingham. Kinney thought OTE would \u201cpush me to the next level.\u201d But his first two weeks, he wondered what he\u2019d gotten himself into. His parents assured him he could come home.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was playing in a shell, then I just started playing like me,\u201d Kinney said. \u201cShoot, the rest is history. When I found out who was on my team, I got real comfortable with those guys, settled in, became myself again.\u201d<\/p>\n
In 20 regular-season OTE games last year, Kinney averaged 20.1 points, 5.0 assists, 4.0 rebounds and 2.3 steals. Thursday, he was one of the main attractions when more than 100 college coaches and NBA scouts visited OTE for its annual combine, observing Kinney and his teammates go through drills, play three-on-three and five-on-five.<\/p>\n
Kinney has grown 2 inches and added 3 (meaningful) pounds over the summer, checking in at 6 feet 3, 188 pounds, according to coach Corey Frazier. It\u2019s a minimal boost that Frazier said could make a major impact for a player who is \u201cthe last in a breed of facilitating-first point guards.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve never known TK to be a selfish player,\u201d Frazier said. \u201cNow, there\u2019s that spurt where he can get the ball at the end of the game and take over, make 10 shots in a row, if that\u2019s what you need. But it\u2019s because he\u2019s spent the first three quarters feeling out the other nine players on the court and making the extra play for his teammates.\u201d<\/p>\n
Kinney estimates that he spends at least five hours a day in the gym. He spends maybe 15 minutes on his TikTok and Instagram pages, letting OTE\u2019s social media handle most of the content creation and posting.<\/p>\n
He doesn\u2019t respond to every message, but sees the ones from kids telling him they discovered him because of the \u201c6-7\u201d trend and took up hoops \u201cbecause they wanna be like me.\u201d Internet fame can be exhausting, but \u201cthe real heartwarming messages like that, they get to me.\u201d<\/p>\n
Gearding is often struck speechless when new patrons show up at River Front Pizza and explain, \u201cWe came here because we love TK and want to support his family!\u201d<\/p>\n
Kinney and his business team know there\u2019s money to be made via his online presence. He leverages his influence and capitalizes on potential \u201c6-7\u201d marketing opportunities: It\u2019s why he started the canned water brand \u2014 launched on June 7, of course. (Its powers are unverified, but at least one youth hooper claims that after drinking \u201c6 7\u201d water, he scored eight points in 30 seconds, and hit the game-winner.) No wonder it already has a waitlist, and 101,000 Instagram followers.<\/p>\n
\u201cMr. 6-7\u201d is almost like an online alter ego Kinney can embrace when he\u2019s feeling entrepreneurial. But day to day, his life is about \u201ckeeping the main thing, the main thing.\u201d<\/p>\n
Kinney is anxious to be done with the recruiting process, and likely to make a college decision by the end of September. In the last month, he\u2019s taken official visits to KU, Indiana and Oregon.<\/p>\n
His ideal situation: \u201cI wanna play pretty fast, with ball screens, letting the guards rock.\u201d<\/p>\n
His mom would love for him to be closer to home in Newport. But she\u2019s made peace with the idea that she might be traveling long-distance to watch him play. She\u2019s used to that.<\/p>\n
\u201cI drive down to Atlanta, to OTE, almost every weekend,\u201d she said. \u201cIt\u2019s about six, seven hours.\u201d<\/p>\n
She paused, realizing her word choice.<\/p>\n
\u201cI didn\u2019t mean to do that!\u201d she cried, while grandpa cackled on the other line. \u201cNo pun intended!\u201d<\/p>\n
(Photo courtesy of Mike Lawrence \/ Overtime)<\/p>\n