“Look how easy that was”: When Ian Jackson and Dylan Harper got fed up with losing in Heads Up!
Dylan Harper and Ian Jackson were two of the top-ranked prospects in the class of 2024. Harper committed to play for Rutgers, while Jackson chose to join the University of North Carolina.
At the SLAM Summer Classic in September last year, the duo paired up for a game of Slam Up. They competed against the team of female hoopers — USC's Kayleigh Heckel and Miami's Leah Harmon. It is basically a variation of Heads Up, a popular parlor game where players have to guess the words/phrases written on the card via a clue from their partners.
The boys started first with Dylan Harper holding cards on his forehead and Ian Jackson trying to give him clues. As the game went on, things took a turn for the worse and they ended up with just three correct guesses in under a minute.
Midway through the game, their opponents, Heckel and Harmon, ended up with five right answers. Ian became visibly frustrated, saying the girls had easy guesses compared to them.
"Oh, look how easy that was though," Ian said (via Slam High School on YouTube). [TS - 2:38]
"These are easy," Dylan agreed.
Despite their early struggles, the boys bounced back, tying at 11-11 in the final round. To settle the match, they went for another round of 30 seconds, where Harper and Jackson beat them 4-2.
Rutgers' Dylan Harper has a great start to his college career
Dylan Harper, a 6-foot-6 freshman guard for the Scarlet Knights, proved why he was one of the top recruits coming out of high school. He looked confident and sharp in Rutgers' first two games of the season against Wagner and Saint Peter's.
In his debut, Harper scored 20 points on 9-of-14 shooting while also dishing out four assists and grabbing three rebounds as Rutgers beat Wagner 75-52.
"I think me, Coach, and the rest of the team did a great job preparing. So I don't think that surprised me," Dylad said post-game. "But, just that was a great feeling being out there, the first game of many and just looking forward to having a great season."
The New Jersey native followed that up with another all-around performance against Saint Peter's on Monday, November 11.
With Rutgers' other top freshman Ace Bailey out for his second game this season, Dylan Harper took the charge and shined again scoring 24 points. He pulled down six rebounds and added five assists as Steve Pikiell's men cruised to a 75-65 victory.