Ron Harper Jr. one of 10 Big Ten players on Wooden Award watch list

Rutgers Ron Harper Jr. is up for a prestigious national award.

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Ron Harper Jr. joins some select company this week as one of 50 players named to The John R. Wooden Award Preseason Top 50 Watch List.

The senior guard is the only Rutgers player on the list. He is one of 10 Big Ten players in the conference on the watch list, the most of any conference.

There are high expectations for Harper and Rutgers this year. Last season, Harper averaged 14.9 points per game along with 5.9 rebounds and 1.6 assists. He started the season very strong, scoring double-digit points in each of Rutgers first 10 games of the season.

Harper will be an influential part of a Rutgers team that is looking to improve on last season and what has been a successful two years for the program. This past spring, the men’s basketball team broke a three-decade long drought and made the NCAA Tournament. As a No. 10 seed, they beat Clemson in the opening round before narrowly falling to a Houston team that made the Final Four.

Rutgers finished last season 16-12 (10-10 Big Ten) in the regular season.