The No. 2 prospect in the 2024 draft class is staying in the Garden State.
Late Wednesday afternoon, Dylan Harper announced his verbal commitment to continue his basketball career at Rutgers University in front of friends and family at the Fanatics headquarters in New York City.
The event, sponsored by Fanatics and live streamed by Overtime on Instagram, was kickstarted by Harper himself and former NBA player Jalen Rose, with a graphic in the background showing the five teams still in contention to land the five-star recruit: Rutgers (committed), Duke, Indiana, Kansas and Auburn. Ultimately, Harper decided on staying in his hometown state, and the Scarlet Knights will now house a joining of forces between Harper and Ace Bailey, the No. 3 ranked prospect who had also committed to Rutgers a few months prior.
Harper now follows in the footsteps of his older brother, Ron Harper Jr, who spent all four of his collegiate seasons in Piscataway, including multiple iconic half-court buzzer-beating shots. Ron eventually went on to sign with the Toronto Raptors after going undrafted in the 2022 NBA Draft and while mostly playing in the NBA G League thus far, it could be a matter of time before he becomes an everyday player for the Raptors.
As far as Dylan goes, the consensus belief is that going undrafted is something the younger of the two brothers won’t have to worry about. The majority of scouts and lists already have the current Don Bosco Prep senior as one of the best high school players in the nation.
For members of “Scarlet Nation,” the sight of two of the country’s top three ranked prospects taking the floor every night will be a special one to see. For 5x NBA champion and father of the two boys, Ron Harper Sr, the reality of a second son now taking the next step at a potential journey to stardom is seemingly unheard of, yet true.
For Ron Jr, the idea of two brothers sharing their respective basketball journeys with both the same high school and college programs is one you don’t see often. And for Dylan Harper himself, who’s keeping the family legacy on the hardwood, and writing up the latest chapter of a story we may be hearing about for years and years down the road.
- Dylan Harper, No. 2 Prospect in 2024, Commits to Rutgers - December 7, 2023
- Crusaders March Past Ironmen in Bergen County Football Rivalry - September 24, 2023
- Bergen Catholic at Don Bosco Prep Game Preview (9/22/23) - September 22, 2023
