Ryan Harp logs more than his share of miles driving from his Abilene home in
west Texas to weekly AAU practices with his team in Dallas (DeSoto, to be
specific). 360 miles round trip each Wednesday, just for practices, ought
to be travel enough for the Cooper High School shooting guard. But that is
only the tip of the iceberg when examining Harp's travels this spring and
summer. After attending three in-state tournaments during the closely
watched evaluation period of April, Harp and the Texas Top Prospects squad are
criss-crossing the nation.
They made their way to North Carolina at the end of May for the Bob Gibbons
Tournament of Champions. Thus far in June the Dallas-based AAU squad has
also played in New York at the Rumble in the Bronx and last weekend in Austin at
the Great American Shootout. At the Rumble, Harp's team finished second in
their pool before losing in the opener of bracket play, and he individually picked
up all-tournament honors. The Texas Top Prospects did more damage at the
GASO, going 5-1 and losing only in the semifinals as they ran out of gas against the San Antonio Spurs squad. Harp scored well in several of his games,
including 18 points in the opener, 19 points against the Houston Lynx and 15
points in the finale.
Maybe the most notable travel for Harp, however, came immediately following
the Bob Gibbons. He took the opportunity while on the East Coast to hit
Wake Forest, Virginia and Richmond for unofficial visits.
"They had already been recruiting me, so I might as well visit these
schools," Harp comments. "It gave them a chance where they could speak to
me in person and clarify where I am with recruiting. They also could tell
me first-hand how they do things and how they operate at their school."
In-person encounters are also good for candor and clarity with respect to the
schools' recruitment of a prospect on campus. Harp walked away with a
better understanding of where his pair of ACC suitors stand with him.
"They both told me about the same thing," he reports. "They want to
watch me more in the summer at these tournaments, but I am a type of player they
want to get."
Another school where Harp will be visiting, sooner or later, is Stanford.
The Cardinal have been recruiting the 6'4" Abilene shooter in earnest for a good
year, and all along there has been an eye toward an unofficial visit to The Farm
this summer. While that trip was thought to perhaps come in August, it may
instead come just around the corner.
"We were talking with Coach [Donny] Guerinoni about it, and they would really
love for me to come up to their camp next week," Harp says. "We're going to try
to go up there if possible. I don't know exactly how, but we're going to
try."
"It would give me a first-hand chance to work with the coaches. I could
look all around and hang out with the players," he adds. "If it's not
possible, then I'll go up there in August definitely."
Fitting in a Stanford sojourn is no easy trick with Harp's busy schedule
upcoming. In addition to his Wednesday practices in Dallas, he will camp
at TCU this Saturday, play at the heavily attended Denton Great American
Shootout at the start of July, then zip out to Las Vegas for the Main Event, and
finish the evaluation period with either a tournament in Los Angeles or Kansas.
With so much travel in July, Harp is hoping he can finish his Stanford
admissions application in the coming days.
"I'm about to mail it out," he forecasts. "I have the basic information
section done and I'm working on the essays. I have a couple of the
recommendations, and I've called a few people and just need to meet with them to
take care of the others.
"I got all A's except an 89 in precalc," Harp reports of his recently concluded spring semester
grades. "I know know why. I thought I was going
to get an A. I had a 3.6 [cumulative] GPA at the end of the first
semester, and now I have almost exactly a 3.7."
Harp also received his May SAT score since we last spoke with him, notching a
1020 on the combined math and reading sections. He quickly retook the
standardized test earlier this month and should in the next few days have that
score.
"Hopefully I did a lot better," Harp offers. "If I didn't, then I'll
just take it again. My GPA is fine. I just need to get my SAT score
up. It's the reading section where I really need to improve. That's
what is most important to Stanford."
And Stanford remains important to Ryan Harp, as measured by both his words
and his actions. When asked for his current favorites, it is no surprise
that the Cardinal are again the first off his lips.
"Definitely Stanford," the recruit responds. "Northwestern, Arizona State and probably Virginia and William & Mary."
Harp adds that he hopes to make unofficial trips to Evanston and Tempe later
this summer. With visits to all of his favorites soon to be in the books,
it is not hard to see what this recruit is gearing to accomplish.
"I think I want to make my commitment by the beginning of school," Harp
opines. "I'd like to go play and finish out the summer, and then make a
decision before school starts."
That commitment horizon is not far away, and a bustle of activity between now
and then will greatly shape the Cooper High School standout's recruiting
outlook. Harp is a recruit to watch closely for all these upcoming events
and news, and we will keep abreast of his activities for you as best we can.
Stay tuned.
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