1. With Geo Baker out, Ron Harper Jr. has taken the reigns for Rutgers – and has exceeded expectations
It is absolutely ridiculous to look at the selection of players who were named All-Conference honorable mention at the end of the 2019-20 season – and realizing just how great they have been this year. There were four in total – Kofi Cockburn of Illinois, Minnesota’s Marcus Carr, Trevion Williams of Purdue, and Ron Harper Jr.
What is even more criminal is realizing that three of those four were named to the 2020-21 Preseason All-Big Ten Team – with the odd one out being Harper Jr. That, obviously, is not meant to say the other three are not deserving – but Harper Jr. has decidedly proven thus far that he should be on that team.
Coming into this game averaging 21.0 points and 7.7 rebounds a game, Harper Jr. needed to produce in order to give Rutgers a signature early-season victory – and he did just that, and more. The junior poured in 26 points behind a stellar shooting clip, going 9-13 (69.2%) on FGs and 5-8 on 3PTers (62.5%) – while collecting seven boards and committing just one foul in 38 minutes.
This season has been nothing short of sensational thus far for Harper Jr., who is shooting 60.3% for the season from the floor and now ranks fourth in scoring among all Big Ten players at 22.3 points per game – behind some fairly good company in Iowa’s Luka Garza, Marcus Carr, and Ayo Dosunmu of Illinois.
It really is not out of the question for Harper Jr. to go from not receiving a spot on the preseason All-Conference team – to being a First Team selection. His stats – and the reliance on him – have obviously spiked largely as a result of Baker’s absence, but his confidence in leading a Rutgers team hoping to finally reach an NCAA Tournament indicates that he can do this consistently.
He will also, obviously, be going up against better talent once the Big Ten regular-season rolls around. With no timetable yet on Baker’s return, Harper Jr. will continue to be a focal point for the team’s defenses – meaning he will need to surpass what he is even producing now, especially during the opening games of December. If he can do that, he is more than deserving of a spot on an All-Conference Team.