Dylan Harper, Ace Bailey recognized as 2 of top players in country ahead of 2024 season
"Dylan Harper, Ace Bailey could be two of the top three picks in the 2025 NBA Draft," said one of college basketball's most respected analysts, Andy Katz, earlier this summer.
Several months later, Katz has doubled down on his preseason hype for the pair of Rutgers men's basketball's highly touted recruits. This time, putting NBA potential aside, Katz ranked the top current players in NCAA men's basketball by releasing his top 16 guards and top 16 wings across the entire nation.
First was the wings, where incoming Scarlet Knight freshman forward Ace Bailey came in at the No. 3 ranking. Fellow freshman and the top 2024 recruit, Duke's Cooper Flagg, received the No. 1 spot, while UConn's two-time NCAA champ Alex Karaban slotted in at No. 2.
As for Katz's top guards, freshman guard Dylan Harper took the No. 1 spot in the land. This ranking was not too well received by many college basketball fans, as the youngster Harper ranked ahead of numerous guards with tremendous NCAA experience, such as North Carolina's RJ Davis, Alabama's Mark Sears and Arizona's Caleb Love.
While Harper's NBA potential certainly places him above those names, it is yet to be seen if his impact at the collegiate level, likely in just one season, can reach the heights of veterans like Davis, Sears and Love.
Whether fans put any stake in these rankings or they dispel them completely, exciting things are coming to the Banks this season for Rutgers with two players of Bailey and Harper's caliber leading the charge.
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