Know More About NBA Prospect Dylan Harper
Many Filipino fans hope for the next one, given the strong showings of Filipino-American Jordan Clarkson of the Utah Jazz and Jalen Green of the Houston Rockets in the 2023-2024 NBA Season.
Enter Dylan Harper, a slick and high-scoring guard committed to Rutgers for the next NCAA season. Like his father, Ron Harper, a former NBA player, Dylan stands 6-foot-6 but can handle the ball and is listed as a point guard. He will be eligible for the 2025 NBA Draft, where he is projected to be in the top 5.
His mother is a Filipina named Maira Pizarro-Harper, who played college ball at the University of New Orleans. Pizarro left Manila when she was seven to migrate to the US with her family. Meanwhile, Dylan’s brother, Ron Jr., became the fourth Filipino to suit up in the NBA as an undrafted rookie for the Toronto Raptors. Ron Jr. was a two-way player with the Raptors but was ultimately cut after suffering a season-ending injury during the 2022-2023 season.
Dylan grew up in Franklin Lakes, New Jersey, and attended Don Bosco Preparatory High School. He averaged a whopping 15.2 points per game during his sophomore season. As a junior, NJ.com named Harper the Boys Basketball Player of the Year after improving his average of 24.9 points, six rebounds, three assists, and two steals per game. Harper plays Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) basketball for the New York Renaissance.
According to major recruiting services, Dylan Harper is a consensus five-star recruit and one of the top players in the 2024 class. ESPN rated him the number one overall recruit for the class of 2024 during the summer before the start of his senior year.
On December 6, 2023, Harper committed to playing college basketball for Rutgers over offers from Duke, Kansas, Indiana, and Auburn. He is the highest-rated recruit in the program’s history. He is following the footsteps of Ron Jr., who also played for Rutgers during college but wants to take a different path by becoming an All-Star someday.
The left-handed Dylan Harper impressed scouts with his purity of vision as a playmaker, knack for opportunistic 3-pointers and elbow jumpers, and college-ready build. These enabled him to turn in dazzling plays at the rim and finish through contact, and the scouts are comparing him to James Harden. He showed his flair for the end game by hitting timely and traditional 3-point plays during last year’s EYBL Peach Jam finals.
As a seasoned senior at Don Bosco, Harper amassed 38 points during a 56-42 victory over St. Peter’s Prep in the North Non-Public A title. He also spearheaded Don Bosco to a 56-29 championship rout of Paul VI (Haddonfield), scoring 26 points (including 12-for-15 from the free-throw line), nine rebounds, and four assists.
During the McDonald’s All-American game in Houston, Harper ended his historic high school season with a bang. After being named 2024 Morgan Wootten Player of the Year, Harper turned in a game-best 22 points to lead the West, which lost to the East 88-86.
Harper averaged five assists and six boards en route to garnering Game MVP honors alongside Montverde Academy forward Derik Queen. Queen, who accumulated 20+ Division-I offers, will prolong his career at the University of Maryland next season. Dylan Harper showed his court vision and timely scoring by scoring 14 of his 22 points in the first half. Harper also showed all-game brilliance by making timely lob passes, finishing above the rim, pocketing corner 3-pointers, being elusive in his one-on-one game, and surging to the rim.
He is expected to team up with forward Ace Bailey, a top-recruited player at Rutgers. They are expected to carry Rutgers in the next NCAA season, with Dylan manning the point and Bailey, a freakishly athletic talent, doing the job inside. The Harper brothers are also interested in playing for Gilas Pilipinas, although Ron Jr. didn’t get a passport before 16, and there is no news if Dylan hasn’t done so.
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