Huskers strike first with rising 2018 guard Harper

Entering the summer, Ron Harper Jr. was about as under the radar as it gets.

Holding four mid-major offers, the unranked and unrated shooting guard from Don Bosco (N.J.) Prep was essentially an unknown on the national recruiting scene.

That all changed in a major way this June, however, when Harper was one of only 60 players invited to the prestigious Victor Oladipo Skills Camp in Washington, D.C. After a strong showing at the camp, Harper translated that into a breakout month of July playing with the Ring City Elite AAU program.

One college coach who certainly took notice of Harper’s sudden emergence was Nebraska’s Tim Miles.

After first noticing Harper at the Oladipo camp, Miles watched him again two weeks ago the Peach Invitational Tournament in Augusta, Ga. Harper excelled once again, leading Ring City 17U squad to win the tournament championship.

It was only a matter of hours later when a Husker offer would be on its way.

“My mom called me at like 11 o’clock at night and she was like, ‘I just got off the phone with Nebraska’s head coach, and they said they’re probably going to call you tomorrow morning and they’re going to offer you,’” Harper told HuskerOnline.com. “Then (Miles) called me the next day and he officially offered me.

“I was on the phone and I was trying not to freak out, but it felt really good.”

Nebraska became the first high-major program to offer Harper, the son of former five-time NBA champion Ron Harper, and it should only be a matter of time before many others start to follow suit.

At 6-foot-6, 220 pounds, and wearing a size 18 shoe, Harper has only just begun to match his skill set with his frame.

Along with the Huskers, Harper holds offers from Fairleigh-Dickinson, Illinois-Chicago, Howard, Georgia State, Radford, and Miami (Ohio) - where his dad was second-team All-American.

More Big Ten interest has picked up the past couple of weeks, too, as Rutgers has been in heavy contact recently.

“I realized my stock was starting to rise after playing so well at some of the tournaments we went to,” Harper said. “I started getting phone calls, and then once I got the Nebraska offer, I knew I was really on the rise.”

Given that he’s just now starting to pick up legitimate national attention, Harper said he was in no hurry with his recruitment.

“I’m just going to take it one step at a time,” he said. “I’ll take visits if I feel like it’s a school I want to go to, and I’ll commit when I feel the time is right. I’m not in a rush to commit anywhere.”

With Nebraska being the first high-major to pull the trigger and extend an offer, Harper added that the Huskers would definitely have an edge of all of the others that are soon to follow.

“They were my first high-major offer,” Harper said. “You’ve always got to keep them in mind, because they were the first to believe in you.”