Dylan Harper’s father and brother went after Adrian Wojnarowski after the ESPN NBA reporter tweeted the news that the basketball phenom would be attending Rutgers minutes before the planned announcement.
Harper, the No. 2-ranked player in ESPN’s class of 2024, announced the news at the headquarters of Fanatics — with whom he has already inked an NIL deal — in New York City on Wednesday afternoon.
Harper’s father, Ron Harper, who won five NBA championships with the Bulls and Lakers, excoriated Wojnarowski for breaking the news.
“That was some BS that you pull today @wojespn I will catch up with you oneday I promise….,” Harper tweeted at Wojnarowski.
Ron Harper Jr., Harper’s brother who played at Rutgers and is now a reserve on the Raptors, was also not happy about it.
Harper Jr. quote-tweeted Wojnarowski, writing, “Lame af man… smh.”
Wojnarowski did not immediately respond to a message from The Post seeking comment about how Harper’s family reacted.
It is rare for Wojnarowski to break news about college commitments — last year, he did break the news that top women’s recruit JuJu Watkins would be going to USC — but Harper went to high school in New Jersey, where Wojnarowski lives, and is part of a potential in-state super team at Rutgers.
It is both understandable that Harper’s family would be aggravated about losing control of the announcement, and Wojnarowski’s job is to break big basketball news.
Harper’s announcement qualifies not only because of his ranking, but also because he’s joining Rutgers alongside Ace Bailey — the third-ranked player in the recruiting class, according to 247 — in addition to three-star recruits Lathan Sommerville, Bryce Dortch and Dylan Grant.
“There’s Duke, Kentucky, UConn — all the big programs — but why not be a trailblazer and stay home?’ ” Harper explained after announcing he would be playing at Rutgers.
Harper brashly predicted that he and his fellow top recruits are “gonna be better than the Fab 5.”
