The sound signaled approval.
When the San Antonio Spurs chosen Rutgers guard Dylan Harper with the second decide of the NBA draft, followers roared at Frost Financial institution Plaza, website of the staff’s draft watch occasion on Wednesday.
As Harper, 19, appeared on the 40-foot LED display on the Rock at La Cantera, a big crowd cheered wildly, exchanged high-fives and shot fists skyward.
“It was an important decide,” stated Jose Castillo, 28, who wore a Victor Wembanyama jersey. “He’s tremendous explosive. I can’t wait to see him play.”
Nearly everybody shared his sentiment.
“We’re positively going to be improved from final 12 months,” stated Davin Koti, 23, who was wearing a Manu Ginobili jersey. “I hope we will make the playoffs. If not the playoffs, then the play-ins.”
The choice of Harper didn’t shock. Nearly each draft analyst predicted the Spurs would decide him after the Dallas Mavericks took Cooper Flagg with the No. 1 choice. Native artist Nik Soupe was so assured he painted a mural of Harper at Rudy’s Seafood earlier than the draft.
“I’m excited,” Harper stated after the Spurs chosen him. “Once you play with a bunch of nice gamers, they convey the perfect out of you. They’ve an important group, a younger core over there. I’m able to get in there and make an impression.”
Harper’s talent set excites Spurs followers. He’s a 6-foot-6 left-handed combo guard who can slash to the rim, rating, rebound and cross. Although not a gifted outdoors shooter, he averaged 19.4 factors and 4 assists in his lone season at Rutgers.
“He’s enjoyable to observe,” stated former Spur Sean Elliott. “He sees the ground effectively. He does quite a lot of issues rather well. One factor I picked up on is, when he’s in transition, happening hill, he can change instructions with out altering velocity. That’s a present. The primary participant I believed did that basically effectively was Jason Kidd.”
Like Kidd, a 10-time NBA All-Star and coach of the Mavericks, Harper attended a Catholic highschool. At Don Bosco Prep in Ramsey, New Jersey, Harper averaged 23 factors, led his staff to the state title and was named MaxPreps Nationwide Excessive College Participant of the 12 months.
He’s the son of Ron Harper Sr., a five-time NBA champion, who gained three titles with Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls and two with the Shaquille O’Neal-Kobe Bryant-led Los Angeles Lakers.
Whereas he has NBA in his DNA, Harper grew up underneath the watch and training of his mom, Maria Harper, who performed on the College of New Orleans. She coached him on the AAU circuit, traveled with him abroad to play with Workforce USA on the U19 Males’s World Cup and gave him instruction as a Don Bosco assistant coach.
“He’s not an in-your-face form of ballplayer,” Maria informed the New York Occasions. “He’s not hovering in and flushing it down. What makes him good is that he’s a Swiss Military knife. He sees the ground like an eagle. He is aware of tips on how to get his teammates concerned.”
Dylan’s older brother, Ron Harper Jr., starred at Rutgers and performed with the Toronto Raptors and briefly with the Detroit Pistons earlier than becoming a member of the Motor Metropolis Cruise of the NBA G League.
Dylan’s dad and mom divorced years in the past.
Ron Sr. stays lively in Dylan’s life and attends his video games. However when school coaches referred to as about his son, Ron Sr. referred them to Maria.
“Don’t get me fallacious,” Ron Sr. informed The Occasions. “I’m pleased with him however I don’t need this to be about me.”
The Spurs drafted a teen who will match into their tradition of giving again. Dylan has volunteered in soup kitchens in New Jersey and New York, tutored college students in math and took part in a winter coat distribution.
Two days earlier than Christmas in 2024, Dylan joined his mom Maria, brother, Ron Jr., and sister, Mia Harper, at a gymnasium in Paterson, New Jersey. The household gave away Nike coats and Rutgers gear to dozens of individuals.
Dylan additionally used a few of his NIL cash to present his Rutgers basketball teammates with custom-made bomber jackets for the vacations.
Elliott is keen to see Dylan be a part of a roster stocked with younger expertise, together with the previous two Rookies of the 12 months, Wembanyama and Stephon Fortress.
“He’s actually polished for being such a younger participant,” Elliott stated. “He has a very excessive basketball IQ. You may see it in his footwork, in his shot, in his court docket imaginative and prescient. He actually is aware of tips on how to play.”
