It's obviously not a guarantee by any means that former Rutgers Men's Basketball forward Ron Harper Jr. will be selected in the 2022 NBA Draft tonight, Thursday, at 8:00 p.m. on ESPN.
Harper Jr., who will be at home in Franklin Lakes, N.J. watching the draft at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, N.Y., is projected to potentially be picked somewhere in the later portion of the second round. However, mock drafts and experts aren't too sure it will come to fruition for the 6-foot-5 forward who has since dropped weight over the last coupe of months.
Per RealGM, Rutgers has had 23 players drafted since 1950. The most recent was Hamady N'Diaye in 2010, though he didn't last too long. But all of them didn't make it to the NBA. Basketball reference players lists 14 players from Rutgers ever stepping on the court at the highest level of hoops.
The website counts Eugene Omoruyi, who transferred to Oregon after three years with the Scarlet Knights. Omoruyi wasn't drafted, but did see brief time with the Dallas Mavericks this past season and in the G-League before a season-ending injury in December.
It's been a long time since Rutgers held a true presence in the NBA, and Harper Jr. has a chance to break the 12-year drought tonight. Recent players such as Corey Sanders, CJ Gettys, Kadeem Jack, Myles Mack, Jerome Seagers, Akwasi Yeboah, Mike Rosario are or were playing in the G-League or overseas in various countries playing professional basketball. Despite how good some of them were, they didn't get much of a sniff at the NBA.
Harper Jr. has had several workouts and meetings with teams such as the New York Knicks, Brooklyn Nets, Sacramento Kings, Charlotte Hornets, Portland Trail Blazers, and Jazz to name a bunch.
He averaged 15.8 points, 5.9 rebounds, shot 39.8% on 3-pointers and 44% overall from the floor as a senior for Rutgers as it made the NCAA Tournament for the second year in a row. He also made several clutch shots throughout the year.
You just need one team to like you at the end of the day, and Harper Jr., whose dad, Ron Harper Sr., won five NBA championships, has the bloodlines for a team to take a chance. Harper may or may not get drafted. He may or may not latch on somewhere as an undrafted free agent.
Either way, Harper Jr. is looking to bring back Rutgers to the NBA.
Follow Chris Nalwasky on Twitter @ChrisNalwasky.
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