Cooper Flagg has essentially solidified his place atop the 2025 NBA Draft. We profiled the Duke phenom earlier in the month, noting that he had the game required to go No. 1 even if he was going to take some time to figure out how to best be effective as a scorer. However, Flagg has had several massive outings as a scorer since that was published, removing most doubts about whether he’ll be able to eventually light opponents up offensively. But the No. 2 spot in this class is still very much up for grabs. Ace Bailey, who we also profiled already, is certainly a player getting some looks. But so is his teammate Dylan Harper, who is averaging 18.6 points, 4.8 rebounds, 4.1 assists and 1.1 steals per game this season.

Rutgers is just 10-10 this season. The Scarlet Knights are going nowhere fast, which might seem odd for a team with two top-five prospects. However, the team hasn’t exactly had great luck in the health department, and Steve Pikiell didn't do the best job of surrounding his star freshmen with the right supporting cast. With that in mind, there’s a chance we’re going to be robbed of seeing these exciting players on a big March stage. But none of that is on Harper, who has arguably been the most exhilarating player to watch in college basketball this year.

Offensively, it’s hard to ask for much more out of an on-ball prospect. Harper, who is 18 years old and stands 6-foot-6, was absolutely lighting up college basketball before being hit hard by the flu and injuring his ankle. The southpaw scored at least 20 points in his first three games of the year, and he put himself firmly in the discussion at the top of the draft with a back-to-back in November that saw him go for 36 points, six boards and six assists in a win against Notre Dame and then 37 points in a close loss to Alabama. Harper continued to put up strong numbers until the end of December, which is when some of his bad injury luck started to come into play. But when evaluating Harper, it’s best to throw out what we have seen in January.

As far as the offensive arsenal goes, Harper has pretty much everything. A lot has been made about whether Harper has the type of top-end speed you want in a lead guard, but he makes great use of his first step, understands when to side-step or Eurostep and uses his big body well to shield off defenders. So, Harper can get to the basket pretty much any time he wants to. Many people have compared him to a bigger version of Jalen Brunson because of his craftiness in the paint, where he’s constantly pivoting, shimmying and doing anything he can to give himself the slightest bit of space to score. But there’s also a lot of Harden in the way he relentlessly attacks downhill, either getting himself a bucket at the rim or a trip to the free throw line. And if you’re sick of the lefty-to-lefty comparisons, how about a hint of Cade Cunningham? He doesn't look quite as long as the Pistons star, but he is similar as a driver in the way he bullies his defenders. Harper is also excellent when it comes to deceleration.

Harper’s elite driving ability should translate very nicely to the NBA. While Harper has an awesome sidekick in Bailey, the Scarlet Knights are shooting just 32.9% from three (202nd in NCAA) this season. Rutgers’ supporting cast isn’t providing either player with adequate spacing. At the next level, that shouldn’t be an issue. So, Harper is going to have more opportunities to dance with his defender. That’s going to go well for him and his teammates, as Harper can finish around the basket in a number of different ways. We’ve even seen some off-hand sweeping hook shots from the freshman.

Harper also has a nice looking jumper. His shooting numbers have come down quite a bit since the start of the season, as he’s only knocking down 33.7% of his threes and 70.8% of his free throws. But Harper’s mechanics are clean, he looks very comfortable shooting off the dribble and he has unteachable touch. He shoots a feathery ball, getting good air underneath it and nice rotation on most of his attempts. He’s also very accurate as a catch-and-shoot player, but his overall numbers are skewed because of the amount of tough shots he takes off the dribble. And while that trend will continue in the NBA — it happens for every guard that willingly takes tough shots — he should be a little better off in the pros than he is in Piscataway.

There’s really just not much that Harper can’t do when it comes to putting the ball in the hole. He’s a legitimate three-level scorer, and he’s also a solid playmaker. We haven’t quite seen the extent of it because the Scarlet Knights don’t have play finishers and reliable three-point shooters surrounding Harper. However, he has still shown that he can make good reads as a pick-and-roll ball handler, and he has a good feel for finding teammates when defenses overplay him.

It just seems highly likely that Harper will end up being a high-level offensive engine in the NBA. The players he’s compared to — Harden, Brunson and Cunningham — are the extreme examples of what that looks like. But there are also players like LaMelo Ball and Tyrese Haliburton a notch below that. Regardless of which outrageously talented initiator you want to compare him to, Harper finds himself in good company. Any franchise that drafts him will be happy with a pretty wide range of outcomes, but the expectation for a player with Harper’s ability is to be a franchise-changing talent. There’s no ifs, ands or buts when it comes to that.

It is nice that Harper seems to care more about defense than players that normally fit his archetype. Like other young stars at the college level, he can occasionally fall asleep off the ball and make a lazy rotation here or there. But he’s highly engaged when it comes to his one-on-one assignment, has the size and mobility to guard one through three and can be dangerous when it comes to playing passing lanes.

In the end, the second pick in this draft could come down to whether a team needs a guard or a wing. There are cases to be made for several players at No. 2, including some we haven’t mentioned yet. But Harper’s electric on-ball ability just might give him more upside than anybody outside of Flagg. He’s a special offensive player, and he’s wired the right way. Harper should immediately raise the ceiling of his next team offensively, and his coaches aren’t going to need to drill the importance of playing good defense into his brain. Harper gets it. While this season might not show it, he’s a winner. After all, he is Ron Harper’s son. That’s a five-time NBA champion.