5x NBA champ Ron Harper delivers major reaction to son Dylan Harper’s snub
Five-time NBA champion Ron Harper expressed his frustration after his son, Dylan Harper, was overlooked for a spot in the top 30 college point guards. In a series of posts on X (formerly Twitter) on Saturday, the former Chicago Bull voiced his displeasure regarding a preseason list of men’s college basketball players.
The list, shared by College Basketball Report on X, featured Mark Sears, Tamin Lipsey, Braden Smith, Wade Taylor IV and Walter Clayton Jr. as the top five point guards.
Among the 30 players listed, a glaring omission was Dylan Harper, who is a five-star recruit and recognized as one of the top talents in the 2024 class. His father, Ron Harper, reacted strongly to this exclusion.
“Jokes,” he commented on CBKReport's post.
In response to a fan who also noted the snub, he commented:
“They don’t play the game on paper and opinions!!!!!!”
Dylan Harper attended Don Bosco Preparatory High School, where he averaged 24.9 points during his junior year and 22.4 points, 5.7 rebounds and 2.7 assists per game in his senior season while leading the Ironmen to a 29-3 record and an NJSIAA Non-Public A state championship.
In the summer before his senior year, he was rated as the top overall recruit for the Class of 2024 by ESPN. In December 2023, Harper committed to play college basketball at Rutgers and became regarded as the highest-rated recruit in the program’s history. He turned down offers from Duke, Kansas, Indiana and Auburn.
Ron Harper says son Dylan Harper will wear Kobes despite Rutgers' partnership with Adidas
Rutgers’ Dylan Harper and Ron Harper took part in an Adidas exhibition game sporting Nike shoes, a situation former Nike executive Jordan Rogers said would not recur due to the school’s apparel partnership with Adidas.
Rogers said that, as an Adidas partner, Rutgers will likely require both players to wear Adidas footwear during games, regardless of their personal brand affiliations.
Nevertheless, Ron Harper clarified that his son would keep wearing Nike shoes.
While sharing Rogers’ video, Ron commented:
“I bet Dylan Harper gonna wear Nike shoes all season long!!!!!”
In another post, he added:
“Dylan is wearing a Kobe shoe all season long…..”
Dylan Harper and the Rutgers team will tip off their season on Nov. 8 against the Wagner Seahawks.