Rutgers men's basketball recruiting profile: Dylan Harper
Fans of the Rutgers men’s basketball team are certainly familiar with the last name Harper. Last season, the former senior guard Ron Harper Jr. finished an illustrious four-season career with the Scarlet Knights (6-2, 1-0) and has now joined the Toronto Raptors on a two-way contract.
He may not be the last Harper to play for Rutgers. The Harper name could live on at the University with Ron Harper Jr.'s younger brother, Dylan Harper, a top-five prospect in the class of 2024. The younger Harper has the chance to continue the positive climb for the Knights just as his brother did before him.
Dylan Harper is currently in his junior year at Don Bosco Preparatory High School in Ramsey, New Jersey. Touted as a five-star recruit from both ESPN and 247Sports, Dylan Harper is a 6-foot-4 combo guard who has received scholarship offers from numerous top schools such as Duke, Indiana, Michigan, Kansas, UCLA and many more. Rutgers was the first to send him an offer back in April 2, 2021.
Dylan Harper is a big guard who can do almost everything as a player. In Nike’s EYBL Circuit this past summer, he averaged 15.9 points, approximately six rebounds and nearly five assists per game.
"I do a little bit of it all," said Dylan Harper. I have a very high IQ, can run the wing, run the point, whatever the team needs me to do."
The young guard plays the game at his own pace and controls the flow of the game in a seemingly effortless manner. On top of that, he shows flashes of great athleticism and can shoot the ball very well.
The way Dylan Harper runs the show as a floor general gives glimpses of a player like Cade Cunningham. Cunningham was also highly ranked out of high school and ended up performing well enough in the NCAA to become the number one overall pick in the 2021 NBA draft.
Dylan Harper has all the makings of an elite player, and this potential could be maximized by joining the Knights in Piscataway.
The Rutgers community already knows how huge it could be to add Dylan Harper to the team. He was at Jersey Mike’s Arena on Livingston campus on Saturday to witness the Knights knock off the then-No.10 Hoosiers in a dominant 63-48 win.
During the game, fans rocked the arena with "Dylan Harper" chants as he stood up from his seat to take it all in. With Indiana being a team who has been pursuing him hard in the recruiting process, a commanding win against the Hoosiers paired with love from the fans could be huge in enticing Dylan Harper to join Rutgers.
"Could be the greatest to put those colors on," said Ron Harper Jr.
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