Rutgers basketball jumps in rankings after Dylan Harper’s commitment

With the commitment of Dylan Harper on Wednesday, Rutgers now has two players in their 2024 recruiting class ranked as five-star prospects. Considering that Rutgers has never had one commit ranked as a five-star, this is certainly some rarified air for the Scarlet Knights.

Rutgers and Duke are the only two teams in the country to each have two players committed and signed in the top 15 of the ESPN rankings.

Here is how the three major recruiting services (Rivals, 247Sports and On3) have Rutgers ranked following the commitment of Harper:

• Rivals has the Rutgers class as second-in-the-nation, headlined of course by the five-star duo of Dylan Harper and Ace Bailey. Rutgers is lifted in the rankings by a third player, Lathan Sommerville, who is a four-star and the No. 101 player in the nation. Sommerville, a summer commit to Rutgers, is an impressive center who moves well and has very good range in his offensive game.
• In the 247Sports rankings, the commitment of Harper saw Rutgers shoot up eight spots. The Scarlet Knights are now third in the nation per the 247Sports rankings, sitting behind Duke and Kentucky. They are one of just four programs with multiple five-star commits.
• On3 is a bit lower on Rutgers, ranking the class sixth in the nation. The major reason is that while Harper and Bailey are both five-star recruits, On3 doesn’t rank any of the other three commits in the class as either four-star players or top 100 recruits nationally.

Bailey and Harper will play at Jersey Mike’s Arena on Dec. 29 in ‘The Battle in New Jeersey.’ The high school tournament, hosted by Rutgers, will feature 10 top-tier teams.