LeBron James is a fan of Rutgers freshman guard Dylan Harper.
"I've been watching him for quite a while," James said Monday about the son of former Chicago Bulls star Ron Harper (h/t Brandon 'Scoop B' Robinson.) "He calls me unc, I call him nephew."
The Los Angeles Lakers star continued: "Special kid, special talent. He's going to be really good in this league."
"Comes from a great family, obviously. Me and Harp, his pops, go back, a while back," James said. "So, I'm excited for what he's doing right now at Rutgers, and what he's going to continue to do in the future."
Harper is averaging 18.6 points, 4.8 rebounds, 4.1 assists and 1.1 steals through 19 games at Rutgers. He sits at No. 2 in the latest 2025 NBA Mock Draft by Bleacher Report's Jonathan Wasserman.
Wasserman wrote about Harper in his latest mock:
Harper has made a strong impression this season with how well he's able to get to spots and finish in traffic. He's been lethal so far from off the ball in catch-and-shoot situations, and despite underwhelming pull-up percentages, he's demonstrated enough shotmaking capability for an 18-year-old to keep scouts' hopeful.
Lottery teams will ultimately view Harper as a scoring lead guard whose creativity and gravity should result in sufficient playmaking for an offense's primary ball-handler.
Harper even impressed when most recently sitting out most of the second half of a Saturday loss to Michigan State.
Rutgers head coach Steve Pikiell said after the game that Harper was dealing with an ankle sprain suffered earlier that week (h/t NJ.com's Brian Fonseca.)
But both Pikiell and Michigan State head coach Tom Izzo praised Harper for the 13 minutes he recorded in the the loss.
"He's tough as nails. I'm proud of him," Pikiell said, per Fonseca. "He was in that training room, lived there practically for a couple days. I honestly did not think he was going to play. He said 'let me give it a whirl' and he gave us 13 minutes. That says a lot about him."
"That kid is a hell of a player," Izzo said, per Fonseca. "Your quarterback is your quarterback. He makes all the other players better."
Rutgers forward Ace Bailey, who is listed at No. 3 in Wasserman's latest draft, has also lived up to the hype during his freshman season.
That hasn't been enough to put the Scarlet Knights on track for the NCAA Tournament. Rutgers is currently 10-10 overall and 3-6 in the Big Ten.
Harper potentially being injured will make it even more difficult to improve those records. Rutgers will hope for him to return soon as possible for the sake of their tournament hopes, while Harper will look to solidify his standing as a top option behind Duke standout Cooper Flagg down the stretch of his freshman season.
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