The Harper U
Sons of 15 year NBA veteran and five-time NBA Champion Ron Harper, Ron Jr., and Dylan Harper co-founded The Harper U. In addition to the sons, their mother Maria, also has a role in The Harper U. The Harper U is a Nike junior EYBL program for middle school boys and girls that reside in New Jersey, New York, Delaware, and Pennsylvania.
Tryouts were held back in late September in East Orange, New Jersey. Dylan made the announcement on his Instagram of the team giving families ten days to sign up before tryouts.
Ron Jr. and Dylan wanted to create this team and program to give back to the community of their home state of New Jersey. As well as provide support and opportunity for young basketball players throughout middle school, in addition to helping the players grow and develop their game.
The Harper family, overall, is definitely one of the better and better-known families in basketball. Ron as mentioned earlier was a 15 year veteran, won five NBA Championships, mother Maria, was a Division I basketball player and has been coaching basketball for over 30 years, and now their two kids Ron Jr., who has played a few games in the NBA, but is mostly in the G-League, and Dylan who was drafted second overall by the San Antonio Spurs.
The Harper U Prospect Camp
Campers at the Harper U prospect camp run through layup drills on Saturday, November 22, 2025. (Back Sports Page/ Brian Ramos)
On Saturday, November 22, Harper U partnered with Don Bosco Basketball to host a prospect camp. This was The Harper U’s second camp/clinic. The one Saturday was at Don Bosco Preparatory High School in Ramsey, New Jersey.
Seventh and eighth-grade boys were allowed to attend for a total of $65 per player. Each player received a t-shirt, and there was a total of just under 50 boys who attended. The camp was split into two sessions, one being from 12:00 pm-1:30 pm. Meanwhile, the other session was from 1:30 pm to 3 pm.
The camp featured a variety of drills, including layup lines, ball handling, mid-range and three-point shooting, offense and defense, and passing. Towards the end of the session, players got to have a little bit of fun as a result of their hard work and played a few games of half-court three-on-three and full-court five-on-five. In addition to the players, it was also beneficial for the coaches as they got to watch the players in game action.
Some of the coaches there were from Harper U, and some of the other coaches were from Don Bosco themselves. The kids who attended the program are looking to either attend Don Bosco Preparatory and/or get involved in the program. The players were not the only ones to get something out of the camp. While the players were working hard and evolving their game, the parents, meanwhile, participated in an information session with Maria, an assistant coach at Don Bosco, and Bosco’s head coach, Kevin Diverio.
Ron Harper Jr.
After a successful four-year high school career at Don Bosco, Harper Jr. attended Rutgers University. At Rutgers, he was a two-time All-Big Ten member, where he averaged 12.6 points in four years. However, after college, he went undrafted. But he still worked hard to get to the next level.
He is now in his fourth season with the Maine Celtics in the G-League. Even though the season just started, he is still playing the best basketball of his young career. He is averaging a career-high 29.8 points, 6.8 rebounds, and four assists per game. In his most recent game with the Celtics, he erupted for a career high 46 points and also demonstrated the clutch gene in that game with a game-winner. If he is able to keep playing at the level he is, it will be just a matter of time before he is playing at the NBA level more permanently.
However, he still does have some NBA experience. In his young career, he played 14 games in the NBA, where he averaged 2.3 points per game. However, in this young season, he has already appeared in three games for the Boston Celtics.
Dylan Harper
The younger brother, Dylan, has been a bit more successful than his older brother. Similar to this older brother, Dylan also attended Don Bosco Prep and had a successful four years there, including being named NJ Gatorade Player Of The Year. Also, just like his older brother, he committed to play his college ball at Rutgers. Another similarity the two brothers share is that they were both All-Big Ten members.
However, the similarities stop there. This past summer, Harper was drafted second overall by the Spurs. In his six games of NBA action, he looked the part, averaging 14 points a game on a very talented Spurs team with guys like Victor Wembanyama, Stephon Castle, and De’Aaron Fox around him. Unfortunately for him, however, he suffered a left calf strain and would be sidelined for multiple weeks.
Maria Harper
Lastly, Maria is no slouch herself and also has an impressive basketball resume. She played Division I basketball at the University of New Orleans and has been playing basketball since she was in fifth grade. She has over 30 years of basketball coaching between founding The Ring AAU Program and girls varsity head coach at DePaul Catholic. Now, she is involved in The Harper U as well as being an assistant for Don Bosco.
Throughout her career, she has probably had many accomplishments. However, her greatest might have been the privilege of being able to coach both of her sons in high school.
Latest Article
To check out my latest article, click here.
*******************************************************
Featured Articles
Featured Writers
