Ron Harper Jr. commits to Rutgers

The commitments keep on coming for the RU men’s basketball team as Don Bosco Prep shooting guard Ron Harper Jr. became the latest prospect to make his pledge to become a Scarlet Knight. Harper becomes the third overall commitment in the past eight days to RU's class of 2018.

“I really felt welcome on my visit and I felt like it was a great place for me,” Harper told Scarlet Nation of his commitment. “And the coaching staff is saying all the right things to get me to go there.”

Harper first broke the news to RU assistant coach Brandin Knight.

“He was real happy,” Harper said. “I also talked to [Head] Coach [Steve] Pikiell. He was really happy. He said he was really excited and happy to coach me. I love all the coaches’ personality and how they brought some solid new guys in the program. I think they're heading the right direction with the right people.”

The 6-foot-6 Harper visited Rutgers on Thursday and received the offer. That trip also played a part in today’s decision.

“The visit was great. They took me around all the campuses, I saw the dorms,” Harper said. “Everything was relatively new. They also told me all of the up and coming stuff they want to do. They are making a basketball facility and I just thought it was the perfect timing for me.”

Harper is also excited to be part of a new era of RU basketball under Pikiell’s direction.

“I like how they basically wiped out the basketball program and brought in a bunch of new guys. Coach Pikiell seems like a winning coach,” Harper said. “He has brought losing programs to being winning programs. I feel like with the right supporting cast, we can do that at Rutgers. They have great coaches like Coach Knight and Coach [Karl] Hobbs, who both played basketball at a high level. They will be a great help with my development.”

Harper is the son of former NBA great Ron Harper, who won five titles during his career.

“He asked if I was sure and when I said yeah, he told me he was behind me 100 percent,” Harper said of his father.

Harper also said he plans to sign his letter of intent during the next signing period of this year.