NBA star Ron Harper and his son Ron Harper Jr. Photo by Pinoy Basketball provided by author
MANILA -- The Filipino-American son of NBA star Ron Harper is coming to town.
Ron Harper Jr. will be playing for the Fil-Am Sports USA Team of head coach Bong Ulep in the upcoming SM-National Basketball Training Center (NBTC) High School Championships that will be held from March 12-16 at the Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay City.
The 6-foot-5 Harper is currently in 11th grade at Don Bosco Prep in Ramsey, Bergen County, New Jersey. In this season with the Don Bosco Ironmen, Harper averaged 9.0 points, 0.4 rebounds, and 0.2 assists per game. He hiked his scoring by four points from his 2015-15 season average of 5.0 points an outing.
During Don Bosco’s most recent match last March 4, Harper scored five points in a 43-40 victory over St. Joseph Montvale.
Harper’s father, Ron Sr., a two-time Manila visitor, won NBA championships with the Chicago Bulls (1996-98) and the Los Angeles Lakers (2000-01). The elder Harper, who stands 6-foot-6, is married to Filipina Maria Pizarro.
Fil-AM Sports USA is one of four Fil-foreign squads participating in the country’s biggest high school basketball tournament. Other squads include AusPinoy Australia, Crossover Durham Canada, and Camp David New Zealand.
Among Harper’s Fil-Am teammates include 6-foot-8 power forward Kamaka Hepa out of Jefferson High School in Portland, Oregon and 6-foot-5 Bruce Edwards from La Jolla Country Day High.
From a field of close to 800 high schools, 48 teams – divided into two brackets of 24 squads -- will be competing in the SM-NBTC Division One and Two championships.
One player from each of the Fil-foreign squads will be selected to join the Division One All-Star Game that will be played on March 16.
The Division 1 and 2 National High School Finals will be covered and aired by ABS-CBN Sports and Action on March 16 at 6 p.m. and 8 p.m. with the All-Star Games aired on March 17 at 2 p.m.
For more sports coverage, visit the ABS-CBN Sports website.