While the Washington metropolitan area is home for Blake Harper, the Howard University freshman is not just getting attention locally, but making waves and turning heads on the national scene.During his early days of basketball, Harper got exposure to some of the best training and competition in the talent-rich DMV.He then took his talents to the all-boys Gonzaga College High School in Northwest D.C., one of the top programs in the nation among high school basketball, where the basketball player’s father, Byron “Snoop” Harper, served as an assistant for many years before his recent retirement.
However, despite success as a youth in the sport, things did not go as planned for the young Harper. Factors such as size, growth and extra weight prevented him from being the player he had hoped.After working to find his niche as a basketball player at Gonzaga College High School, Howard University freshman Blake Harper (5) is now dominating the court and is a leader among his peers as the team’s co-captain. (Courtesy of Howard University Athletics)“Blake never got to play his best basketball here,” said longtime Gonzaga Coach Steve Turner. “He always had the ball-handling skills because of his development at the guard position. What separates him is his court vision and high basketball IQ. The things that held him back were his height and his weight.”Harper reflected on his high school career, remembering challenges along the way.“I was not the second- or third-best player there,” he told The Informer. “I had a hard time finding my niche.”Then, Harper faced something more trying than any in basketball; he lost his mother, Linda, in May 2023.
“My mother not being around has made it hard,” Harper explained. “She would always sit behind the bench at Gonzaga and attend all our games.” Following his senior season, Harper was named to play in the prestigious Capital Classic All-Star game in D.C., featuring some of the top seniors from around the country, including some of the best that the DMV has to offer.Despite that opportunity, Harper played sparingly and was not able to display his skills. Because of Gonzaga’s reputation for producing outstanding players, along with the competition that he played against during his career, he received interest from universities such as Fordham, Radford and Howard. “After I visited Howard, I knew that it was the place for me,” Harper said. “It felt like home. I had a relationship with [assistant coach] Tyler Thornton and [head coach] Kenneth Blakeney. That helped a lot in my decision-making.”
Harper’s dad also appreciated the synergy surrounding his experience with the historically Black institution. “Howard was the first to offer him. He played with the players on the team and it seemed to be a good fit for him. It was also important for him to play for a coach who looked like him,” the elder Harper told The Informer. “All the right things happened. There was a growth of three inches over the summer. And then, the conditioning program that the coaching staff put in really helped him. He has always had a high IQ for basketball and he had the skills from playing the guard position. His growth was ultimately a game-changer for sure.”Starting at Howard With a group of veterans returning from back-to-back MEAC titles and NCAA appearances, it seemed like Harper would be brought along slowly, but that was not Coach Blakeney’s plan.“When I watched him in practice, we knew that he was going to be special,” said Howard’s head coach.Blakeney decided to start Harper in the season opener against the No. 1 ranked team: Kansas. While it was exciting to go from being a player on a talented team at Gonzaga to starting your first game before 15,000, Harper told The Informer the experience was a bit overwhelming.
“I started slow and was not in any rhythm,” said Harper. “And then Hunter Dickinson told me during a free throw attempt to ‘play the kind of basketball that you know you can play. Get up your shots and do the things that you know you can do.’”Dickinson is an All-American center from DeMatha, who played middle school basketball with Blake at Mater Dei.In the Kansas game, Harper ended up leading the team in scoring with 16 points, while grabbing four rebounds and dealing out three assists.Harper would go on to have outstanding games at nationally ranked Missouri (seven points, eight rebounds and four assists) and then at nationally ranked Cincinnati, where he posted his first-career double-double (23 points and 10 rebounds).“Playing in the WCAC helped me adjust,” Harper told The Informer “Night in and night out, you are playing against so many Division I and future pro prospects that you learn to compete. The biggest adjustment is that you did not have the various scouting that is designed to take away the things that you do. Plus, because of the transfer portal, you are now competing against 22, 23 and 24-year-olds.”
As a 6-foot-7-inch southpaw with great vision and ball-handling skills, Harper has become a problem for opponents. For smaller opponents, he is tough to guard because of the size advantage that allows him to shoot over defenders. For the bigger players in the post area, he skillfully uses the fundamentals of the game to be effective in the post area. Further, the thing that gives him the triple threat is his ability to pass the ball out of double teams and find open teammates.Harper has been named an unprecedented MEAC Rookie of the Week 13 times and has even been recently named Player of the Week, a rarity for a freshman. He leads the MEAC in scoring and rebounding, second in minutes played and ranks in the Top 5 in free throw shooting, assists and field goal shooting percentage. Nationally, he ranks 24th in the nation among all Division I players and the fourth-leading freshman scorer in the nation. In addition, the DMV native has scored 30 or more points three times and recorded the first-ever triple-double in school history.While he misses his mother tremendously, the young athlete told The Informer he is working to continue making her proud. “Before the Kansas game, I actually broke down. But then I thought about what she would have been through with me being here in this space at Howard, my relationship with Coach (Tyler) Thornton and Coach KB (Kenny Blakeney) and my father being able to come to all my home games,” he said. “After that, things became a little different.”Harper’s Leadership The Howard team has experienced an unusual number of injuries and setbacks, with during the course of the season, 12 different starting lineups. They have lost several starters, including Bryce Harris, the MEAC Preseason Player of the Year, prompting Blakeney to shake up things. “With so many key leaders out with injuries for most of the season, we decided to re-vote on the team captains,” Blakeney explained. “We wanted someone who was out there every day in practice and on the course because it was easier to listen to them. The team voted graduate guard Joshua Strong and Blake as captains.”Named a co-captain as a freshman, Harper said it is a tremendous honor serving in that role so early in his collegiate career.“I have committed myself to doing all things as a leader to help this program be successful,” he said. A criminal justice major, Harper said he plans to make a difference in the community.“I know a lot of young people who have the talent to make contributions, but for reasons, they often fall by the wayside and never get to realize their potential,” Harper explained. “I want to get into the system in some capacity and help make a difference.”Harper’s leadership shined during the recent game against Hampton University held at the Entertainment and Sports Arena (now the CareFirst Arena) in Southeast Washington on Feb. 1.His team was struggling to score against their heated rivals. Harper, who came into the game averaging almost 19 points per game, was held to six in the first 20 minutes. Then with eight minutes left and his team trailing by 13 points, Harper showed why he is a force to be reckoned with. He put the team on his back and lifted them by scoring 29 of his career-high 35 points in the second half and overtime before Howard fell, 80-79, in overtime on a four-point play.Despite his success and the accolades that have come his way as a freshman, Harper told The Informer that there is lots of room for improvement.“I am going to add muscle and improve my skills so I am able to compete at an even higher level,” Harper said. “That is one of my main goals in the offseason.”
Source: Washington Informer
