2025 NBA draft scouting report: Why Rutgers’ Dylan Harper might be better than his much-touted teammate 

Few college basketball teams will garner more attention this upcoming season than the Rutgers Scarlet Knights. Five-star freshman guard Dylan Harper and his teammate Ace Bailey will be appointment television, especially if their exhibition against St. John’s is any indication.

Though Bailey has received a bit more buzz, Harper will be a worthy top-two pick contender in a stacked 2025 class. In his exhibition against St. John’s, Harper put his full skillset on display en route to 20 points and plenty of strong drives, passes and defensive play.

2025 NBA draft scouting report: Breaking down Dylan Harper's game

At 6-foot-6 and 215 pounds, Harper towers over the average point guard. He’s incredibly skilled and capable of driving and scoring with his strong left and weak right hand. Harper began the exhibition with a nice drive to the right, blowing by his defender and scoring with touch:

Harper lacks elite vertical explosion, making his life as a finisher in traffic challenging. He’ll succeed with touch and strength, but we’ll note the difficulty Harper has finishing through strong contests at times. However, Harper’s ability to navigate the court with his handle and veteran patience somewhat alleviate this. Harper loves this behind-the-back move, changing speeds and directions to score at the rim:

Even when Harper can’t spin in shots, his overwhelming physicality should lend itself to foul drawing. He posted a solid 0.32 free-throw rate in his last EYBL season and should be able to overwhelm defenders with his strength and power to live at the free-throw line:

When Harper can’t draw fouls, though, he may struggle to generate clean looks in the paint. This will be one of the major swings that determines whether Harper can develop into a true primary initiator at the NBA level or a more off-ball-oriented guard.

Sometimes, Harper will pick the ball up early in hopes of drawing a foul, but on a few possessions, Harper can spin and twist into traffic and toss up ill-advised shots like this one:

Despite some impressive ambidexterity as we saw in the first clip, Harper must improve his control with his right hand. Harper’s tendency to counter back to his left likely results from his limitations with the right. Late in the exhibition game, Harper tried to drive to the right and lost control of the ball

Harper’s touch in the intermediate is excellent and he flashed that versatile shotmaking package in the exhibition. Note how decisive Harper attacks off of the catch in this next clip; many teenage stars struggle to contribute without dominating the ball. However, that’s not the case for Harper, who hop steps into a floater here:

His spin move remains deadly creating space for his jumpers, here pivoting back and fading away to nail the mid-range with tons of space:

All high-usage young players will fall back on bad shots at some points. Especially for a player like Harper who excels in the midrange, some of the misses won’t look pretty. At times, Harper will pass up better opportunities as a passer or as a slasher in favor of these tough jumpers. Even when the shots do fall, the process behind them could improve:

Harper can create space and nail these off-dribble jumpers from beyond the arc. He’ll need to become more consistent as a pull-up shooter to reach his ultimate NBA ceiling, but some of these flashes are enticing:

His playmaking is excellent, albeit not at the level of special initiators like Luka Doncic and Trae Young. Harper weaponizes his patience and pace as a ballhandler, waiting for passing creases to open. Given Harper’s scoring threat, defenders will send helpers at him, which Harper typically has the vision to exploit.

Harper dribbles behind his back, maneuvering to the middle of the floor. He pivots, waits for a cutter and fires an interior pass for the assist:

Though Harper misses an interior pass occasionally, his pacing and pace extend options. Check out this tiny window Harper fits the ball into after pivoting again:

Unlike most offensively-slanted guard prospects, Harper is an excellent defender. It’s hard not to be overwhelming on the ball at his size, hounding the point of attack with great size, strength and lateral quickness.

Even when Harper matches up with smaller, quicker guards, his ability to pressure the ball stands out. Harper defends this guard, forces a deep pickup and helps his team generate a turnover:

This time, Harper picks up a bigger handler (RJ Luis) beyond half-court. Against these bigger handlers, Harper can ramp up his ball pressure and manage their speed. Luis tries his hardest to shake Harper but ends up traveling on the play:

Projecting Dylan Harper's ceiling

Before he enters the NBA draft, Dylan Harper should be one of college basketball’s best players. He’s a true floor general with pro size and strength, all conducive to success at the college level.

But Harper, of course, will hope to star in the league one day. His pace and timing as a driver, shotmaking and defensive chops will help him do that. Harper’s ability and experience playing off of the ball will help him adjust to the league. But if Harper can improve his shooting or driving to a significant extent, he could end up as an NBA star.