From Right Bench to NBA Recruit; The Transformation of Howard Freshman Blake Harper

Howard’s guard Blake Harper went from riding the bench at his high school, Gonzaga in Northwest Washington, to being a top 4 men's freshman college D1 scorer, and having all 30 NBA teams scout his games. Harper played on JV for freshman and sophomore year in high school, and then made varsity as a freshman, however he didn’t see much of the court. Weighing 248 pounds, he earned the nickname “Chubby” from his high school buddies. “Definitely the chubby kid, I was known for my chubby cheeks,” Blake said about his friends’ nickname for him. Blake Harper was a zero star recruit, yet he received three college offers from Radford, Fordham, and Howard. However, Radford and Forham had no chance considering Harper had personal one-on-one training with Howard’s assistant coach Ty Thorton throughout his entire career. Thornton and Harper spent most of their time together perfecting Blake’s jump shot, making it his specialty. Harper didn’t think twice before accepting Howard’s Division 1 offer. Arriving at Howard, the training was a death pit for Blake Harper. Running wind sprints was like deadlifting hundreds of pounds for the rest of the squad, but Harper was determined to pass the physical and go on the preseason trip to Brazil. Harper dropped forty pounds, and was accepted to Brazil, and earned an official spot on the team. “Over the course of the summer, Blake was mad at me,” Thornton recalled. “But I told him, ‘You don’t see it, but there’s a lot you can bring to the table if you can just push through these walls.’” Harper excelled during the preseason, earning MEAC rookie of the week award 14 TIMES in a row! Boosting his athleticism, he finally palmed a ball for the first time, and even had his first dunk. These extra attributes gave him everything he needed, and he was the first player in 24 years to achieve a 30 point triple double. Blake continues to add to his game, and understands the reality that he will go pro to the NBA, Harper quoted, “I feel like I’ve never been satisfied. To get to this point, it’s been a lot of work, [but] I got to do more work to get to where my dreams are, to play in the league. It’s definitely more work to do because I’m trying to play against Lebron [James].”