Tag: Ron Harper Jr.

How did Rutgers basketball star Ron Harper Jr. test at the NBA combine?

Ron Harper Jr. is at the NBA combine this week.

Ron Harper Jr. is doing himself a solid one this week at the NBA combine. The Rutgers small forward is enhancing his draft stock with somegood showings on the court.

Last season, his fourth with Rutgers basketball, saw Harper average a career-high 15.8 points per game. He also had 5.9 rebounds per game.

This past week, Harper signed with an agent, signally that he isn’t going to return to college basketball.

Here is how Ron Harper Jr. measured up at the NBA combine:

  • Body-fat: 14.5 percent (third-highest)
  • Hand-size: 9.5 inches (second-largest)
  • Hand-width: 10 inches
  • Height (without shoes): 6’4.00
  • Height (with shoes): 6’5.50″
  • Standing reach: 8’9.50″
  • Weight: 240.4 pounds
  • Wingspan: 7’1.25″

Here is how Ron Harper Jr. tested in the speed and agility portion of the combine:

  • Lane agility time: 11.41 seconds (fastest time for a small forward was Julian Strawther at 10.3 seconds)
  • Shuttle run: 3.24 seconds (fastest time for a small forward was Leonard Miller at 3.02 seconds)
  • Three-quarter sprint: 3.4 seconds (fastest time for a small forward was Gabriele Procida at 3.07 seconds)
  • Standing vertical leap: 26 inches (longest leap for a small forward was Kendall Brown at 31.5 inches)
  • Max vertical leap: 30.5 inches (longest leap for a small forward was Kendall Brown at 41 inches)

All NBA combine numbers are courtesy of the NBA’s combine portal.

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Harper has been earning solid praise throughout the NBA combine.

 

In a recent interview, former NBA scout Michael VandeGarde, who spent 18 years scouting for the Philadelphia 76ers, had Harper as a second round pick.

Rutgers basketball: NBA scout weighs in on Ron Harper Jr.’s NBA draft outlook

Former Rutgers basketball star Ron Harper Jr. gets assessed by a former NBA scout.

Ron Harper Sr. declared officially for the NBA draft, the Rutgers star signing with an agent and closing out the chapter on his collegiate career.

A career that will go down among the best in Rutgers basketball history.

Harper was not only the team’s leading scorer, but he was also a quintessential leader who kept his cool in big moments throughout the season.

As for his NBA outlook, it appears that Harper has the makings of a draft pick. Just where he lands in the NBA draft depends on his performance at this week’s NBA combine as well as his individual workouts.

He is a solid shooter and a very good defender. Last month, RutgersWire asked Michaek VandeGarde his thoughts on Harper.

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An NBA scout with the Philadelphia 76ers for nearly two decades, VandeGarde sees some potential for the former Rutgers basketball standout.

“He has some upside if he gets in better shape or proves he can be an above average shooter,” VandeGarde said. “His pedigree makes me think he will work hard and improve his game…he is a senior already so that limits his upside compared to most draft picks…Someone could draft him mid to late second round but I think that is 50/50.”

VandeGarde spent 18 years with the 76ers organization as a scout. Currently, he is involved with CoachTube, a digital platform that offers sports coaching courses including former NFL head coaches, college basketball coaches and a variety of other notable sports personalities.

 

Now, as for VandeGarde’s assessment of Harper, it is certainly reflective of the overall thought process as reflected in many mock drafts.

Last season, Harper averaged 15.8 points and 5.9 rebounds in leading Rutgers to consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances since 1976. In his final game for Rutgers, an NCAA Tournament loss to Notre Dame, he scored 22 points and shot 57.1 percent from 3-point range.

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VandeGarde also mentioned Harper’s ‘pedigree.’

That pedigree is, of course, from his father, Ron Harper Sr. The elder Harper was a very, very good NBA player who won five NBA titles during his career.

It appears that twice, the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree…Dylan Harper, the younger brother of the Rutgers standout forward, is a four-star prospect at Don Bosco Prep (Ramsey, N.J.).

The sophomore is emerging as one of the top players in the state and holds an early offer from Rutgers in addition to several other Big Ten programs.

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Ron Harper Jr. will be part of the NBA draft combine

Rutgers basketball forward Ron Harper Jr. was invited to the NBA draft combine.

The NBA combine will include former Rutgers basketball star Ron Harper Jr.

Harper is the only member of the Rutgers basketball team invited to the combine event, which begins next week.

Senior guards Geo Baker and Caleb McConnell also decided to make a declaration to go professional. Like Harper, McConnell has the option to return to Rutgers if he does not hire an agent.

Freshman guard Jaden Jones also declared for the NBA draft.

Harper had 15.8 points and 5.9 rebounds per game as a senior last season, his fourth at Rutgers. His play including being a tenacious defender helped Rutgers basketball to a second-straight NCAA Tournament appearance.

 

This past season, he set career-best marks in scoring (15.8 points per game), assists per game (1.9), three-point shooting percentage (39.8), field goal percentage (44.2) and free throw percentage (79.5).

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He is the son of Ron Harper Sr., a five-time NBA champion. His younger brother is Dylan Harper, who is turning into a priority recruit at Don Bosco Prep (Ramsey, N.J.).

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Sophomore Dylan Harper, brother of Rutgers standout Ron Harper Jr., adds three offers the past two weeks

Rutgers basketball recruit Dylan Harper has three big offers over the past two weeks.

Dylan Harper has seen his recruitment take off the past several weeks, with several bigtime offers rolling in for the class of 2024 guard.

A 6-foot-5 prospect out of Don Bosco Prep (Ramsey, N.J.), Harper is a consensus four-star recruit. The 247Sports Composite lists him as the No. 33 player in the nation. He is the No. 3 player in New Jersey for his recruiting class.

And his recruitment is really starting to pick up in recent weeks.

Over the past two weeks, Harper has received offers from Indiana (April 24), Texas Tech (April 29) and Missouri (May 2).

In February, he was offered by Georgetown. Last season, he pulled in offers from Rutgers and St. Peter’s.

 

Don Bosco finished the season 23-5.

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Harper is the younger brother of Ron Harper Jr., the Rutgers basketball standout forward who declared for the NBA draft following this past season. His father is Ron Harper Sr. who starred in the NBA and won five NBA titles.

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Notre Dame beats Rutgers in double-overtime classic, makes Round of 64

The Irish signaled that March Madness has begun!

Call it cliche that Notre Dame’s First Four game against Rutgers was decided right as it became midnight on St. Patrick’s Day. Whatever label you want to give it, the result was the same. After battling with the Scarlet Knights for 40 regulation minutes and two overtimes, the Irish appeared headed to a third extra session in Dayton, Ohio. Instead, a Paul Atkinson Jr. putback with 1.4 seconds left gave the Irish an 89-87 win and a date with Alabama in the Round of 64.

This NCAA Tournament game featured numerous ties and lead changes with neither team gaining a serious advantage for a lengthy amount of time. Every time it appeared over, someone would knot up the score, a game-winner would be missed, and the contest would be extended. By the second overtime, you couldn’t have called yourself a real fan and not be tuned into truTV at that moment. You would have missed something epic.

With 41 seconds left, Prentiss Hubb sank two free throws to give the Irish (23-10) an 87-84 lead. Although the Scarlet Knights (18-14) didn’t necessarily need a 3-pointer yet, Ron Harper Jr. fired one from way downtown and made it to tie the game at 87 with 22 seconds remaining. With the shot clock now off, the Irish had the chance to play for the final shot. Blake Wesley milked the clock before driving for a layup that missed everything, but that led to Atkinson’s game-winning heroics.

Atkinson scored all of his points in the paint, and his 26 led all scorers. Nate Laszewski came off the bench and scored 18 points. Cormac Ryan scored 16 and also picked up a game-high three steals in a terrific defensive effort. Dane Goodwin had 12 points as he returned to his usual spot in the starting lineup.

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Contact/Follow us @IrishWireND on Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Notre Dame news, notes, and opinions.

Follow Geoffrey on Twitter: @gfclark89

What we learned in Rutgers’ loss to DePaul

Back and forth is an understatement in this one. There were 16 lead changes and 11 ties for the national audience to enjoy. Let’s take a look at keys from the game.

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The Rutgers basketball squad represented the Big Ten in the finale of the Gavitt Games on Thursday Night against DePaul. Rutgers suffered their first loss of the season in this back and forth contest – 73-70 was the final.

After Xavier upset No. 19 Ohio State in the game prior, the Big East already took the Games with four victories, but the Scarlet Knights came up flat in their first loss of the year at the Blue Demons.

“They made some big shots down the stretch, and we made some big ones too,” Rutgers head coach Steve Pikiell said. “I liked the looks we got. They made some big plays.”

Rutgers had recently received votes in the Ferris Mowers Coaches Poll. We will have to wit to see how the loss impacted their standings.

Undisciplined play is ultimately what did Rutgers in – they turned the ball over 12 times. “It’s disappointing. we didn’t block out better and we fouled too much in a one-possession game” Pikiell said. “Give them credit, they worked hard and made it tough for us. They were very aggressive. They were averaging 99 points coming into the game. Give them a tip of the hat.”

Back-and-forth is an understatement in this one. There were 16 lead changes and 11 ties for the national audience to enjoy. Let’s take a look at keys from the game.

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.

Two Rutgers players in the top 10 of the ‘The Top 20 Big Ten Hoopers in 20 Days’

Rutgers basketball has two players on the Big Ten Network’s top players of the year.

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The return of Ron Harper Jr. and Geo Baker for another year at Rutgers is huge for the men’s basketball program, as evidenced by their recent rankings by the Big Ten Network.

As part of their preseason programming, the Big Ten Network is doing a run down of the premier players in the conference. ‘The Top 20 Big Ten Hoopers in 20 Days’ sees Harper in at seventh on the list and Baker at ninth.

It is a big nod for Rutgers and a sign of the respect for the program to place two players within the top 10 of this list. The return of both players makes Rutgers a likely return team to the NCAA Tournament this year.

The Scarlet Knights snapped their three-decade long stretch without an NCAA Tournament last year. Not only did Rutgers go dancing, but they beat Clemson in the opening round and narrowly lost in the next round to Houston, a team that would end up in the Final Four.

Rutgers is just outside the AP Top 25 College Basketball Poll released during preseason. They were picked to finish eighth in the Big Ten in another preseason poll.

Rutgers men’s basketball star Ron Harper Jr. named to Preseason All-Big Ten Team

Rutgers men’s basketball Ron harper Jr., fresh off a solid season, makes preseason All-Big Ten team.

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Ron Harper Jr. was named on Wednesday as a member of the 2021-22 Preseason All-Big Ten Team. The Rutgers forward was the only Scarlet Knights player announced to the list.

Last season, Harper posted a career-high 14.9 points per game and 5.9 rebounds per game.

Rutgers is one of seven men’s basketball programs to have a player selected to the list. Michigan, Illinois and Purdue each had two selections to the 11 players on the list:

 

(Players in all capital letters were unanimous selections).

Illinois center Kofi Cockburn was named 2021-22 Big Ten Preseason Player of the Year.

Rutgers was picked to finish eighth in the Big Ten preseason poll earlier this month. The Scarlet Knights made the NCAA Tournament this spring for the first time in three decades. They won their first-round game over Clemson and lost 63-60 to a Houston team that made the Final Four.

Ron Harper Jr. is one of three Big Ten players named to Julius Erving Award watchlist

Three Big Ten players including Ron Harper Jr. were named to the Julius Erving Award watchlist.

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Three Big Ten small forwards were named to the watchlist for the prestigious 2022 Julius Erving Small Forward of the Year Award. The award is given out to the top small forward in men’s college basketball.

Ron Harper Jr. (Rutgers), Caleb Houstan (Michigan) and Justice Sueing (Ohio State) were the three representatives from the conference to make the watchlist from a list of 20 national players. The award is named after the legendary Julius Erving, who had an accomplished career at UMass as well as professionally in the ABA and the NBA.

Harper will be counted on heavily for Rutgers this year as the program looks to make back-to-back NCAA Tournament appearances for the first time since 1975-76. He was an influential part of the Scarlet Knights solid season, averaging 14.9 points per game and 5.9 rebounds per game.

The inclusion of Houstan is impressive as the freshman has yet to play a game at Michigan. The 6-foot-8 Canadian has a long wingspan, is a good perimeter defender, and is equally impressive with his back to the basket as he is playing above the rim. He was a five-star recruit and ranked the No. 14 player in the nation according to 247Sports.

Certainly a known commodity, the inclusion of Sueing is no surprise. The senior is coming off a solid season where he averaged 10.1 points per game and 5.5 rebounds per game. It was his first season with the Buckeyes, having transferred to Columbus after playing his previous two seasons at Cal. He is expected to play an even larger role for Ohio State this season.

Only one player from the Big Ten, Denzel Valentine of Michigan State in 2016, has won the award. The Julius Erving Small Forward of the Year Award was first given out in 2015.