Rutgers freshman Dylan Harper, one of the top prospects in this year’s draft class, announced on ESPN’s NBA Today on Monday that he’ll be entering the 2025 NBA draft (Twitter video link).
The decision comes as no surprise, as Harper has long been considered a strong bet to be one of the first players off the board this June. He ranks second overall on ESPN’s board behind only Duke freshman Cooper Flagg, notes draft expert Jonathan Givony.
A 6’6″ point guard and the son of five-time NBA champion Ron Harper, Dylan averaged 19.4 points, 4.6 rebounds, 4.0 assists, and 1.4 steals in 32.6 minutes per game in 29 outings during his first and only college season. He posted a shooting line of .484/.333/.750 and was named to the All-Big Ten third team.
Harper broke Rutgers’ freshman scoring record and finished fifth in the Big Ten in points per game, according to Givony, who says the 19-year-old has drawn comparisons in NBA circles to a young James Harden.
“NBA teams saw I am an all-around player,” Harper said. “I can do whatever it takes to win. Whether it’s score, defend or facilitate. Anything coach needs me to do.”
Here are a few more prospects entering the 2025 draft:
- St. John’s junior forward RJ Luis is declaring for the draft while maintaining his remaining college eligibility and entering the NCAA’s transfer portal, agent Sam Permut tells Givony (Twitter link). Luis had a big year as a junior, averaging 18.2 points and 7.2 rebounds per game en route to Big East Player of the Year honors. He ranked 72nd overall on ESPN’s top-100 list as of last week.
- Oregon senior big man Nathan Bittle will be testing the draft waters while retaining his final year of college eligibility, he announced on Instagram. The No. 96 prospect on ESPN’s board, Bittle averaged 14.2 points, 7.6 rebounds, and 2.1 blocks in 27.7 minutes per game across 35 starts this season, earning spots on the All-Big Ten third team and the conference’s All-Defensive team.
- Following his junior season, Vanderbilt guard Jason Edwards is heading back into the transfer portal while testing the NBA draft waters, he tells Joe Tipton of On3 Sports (Twitter link). Edwards, who transferred from North Texas a year ago, averaging 17.0 points per game for the Commodores in 2024/25.
- Jacksonville State senior guard Jaron Pierre will test the NBA draft waters while entering the transfer portal, tweets Jon Rothstein of CBS Sports. Pierre isn’t on ESPN’s top-100 list but ranked first among all Conference USA players with 21.6 points per game in 2024/25. He knocked down 38.2% of a career-high 7.6 three-point attempts per game.
Jaron Pierre is nice. Edwards looks alright
Positional size ……. always gets teams drooling.
Definitely got big upside. I just keep thinking about Rutgers with two top 5 talents. Yet couldn’t win with them. Better be patient ….. a top 5 talent for sure.
Not trying to be rude but not all these guys can come in and be Carmelo Anthony and lead their school (Syracuse their only) to a title. It’s mostly like Ben Simmons. When he was at LSU and he impressed nobody with team play
I see him going to pels or hornets.
I see him going to Utah or San Antonio somehow