NBA scouts are flocking to Howard to see a zero-star recruit
The answer to this college basketball season’s most surprising trivia question plays at Howard University inside a gym that holds less than 3,000 spectators but, over the last several months, has hosted scouts from all 30 NBA teams. And in a conference that has rarely witnessed such superiority from first-year players.
So, for that trivia question: Of the top four freshman scorers in men’s college basketball, which one didn’t start on his high school team?
It’s not Duke’s Cooper Flagg, the presumptive top pick in this year’s NBA draft. It’s not potential one-and-done phenoms in Tre Johnson from Texas and Ace Bailey of Rutgers. But just behind those players is a kid who once couldn’t even get off the bench while playing prep hoops at Gonzaga in Northwest Washington.
The answer — and the reason college recruiters around the nation should be kicking themselves — is Howard guard Blake Harper. He’s the Bison’s best player and the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference’s top rookie. If you’re amazed that a former high school role player belongs with future NBA lottery picks, then you’re not alone. Just imagine Harper’s surprise.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2025/02/14/top-college-basketball-freshmen-blake-harper/