WKU Recruiting: Zion Harmon Pledges Commitment to Hilltoppers
On Tuesday afternoon, the most-followed recruitment since Charles Bassey came to an end as 2021 4-Star point guard Zion Harmon pledged his commitment to the Hilltoppers
Harmon is a 5'10 point guard that just completed his junior season at Marshall County (KY) High School where he averaged 25.4 points per game & 3.3 Rebounds per game for the Marshal’s leading them to a 23–11 record before falling in the 1st Region Championship to McCracken County.
Harmon has been on the local radar for 5 years now since he moved from Maryland to Antioch, Tennessee in 2015. After playing Varsity as a 7th grader for Lighthouse Academy in Tennessee his father moved to Bowling Green and Harmon led the Purples to the State Championship as an Eighth-grader while averaging 16.8 points per game.
The legend of Harmon has grown since and so has the controversy. He moved from Bowling Green to Adair County to play his freshman season where he averaged 32.7 points but he didn’t last long in Columbia as he transferred again for the fourth time in four seasons to Marshall County where he had to sit out his sophomore season per KHSAA rules.
This season he’s stabilized and portrayed several of the attributes that made him a highly sought prospect. He is lightning quick and can score from anywhere on the floor and despite being listed as a point guard he could easily slide into the two-guard position at the college level despite his small stature. He will also bring needed shooting for the Hilltoppers as he shot 33.5% from three-point range and 84.5% from the free-throw line.
Harmon is rated a 4-star recruit by both Rivals and 247 Sports. His stock has fallen a bit since a couple of years ago but he’s still a consensus top 50 level recruit.
Here is a highlight tape of Harmon’s game
Zion chose WKU over bluebloods and power programs such as Kansas, Seton Hall, Maryland & also Murray State. Rick Stansbury has a long relationship with Harmon and his family that started 5 years ago and that appears to be the biggest reason that he chose the Hilltoppers.
Harmon is rumored to be reclassifying to the 2020 class following the footsteps of several recent recruits for Stansbury including Charles Bassey, Jordan Rawls, Dalano Banton & Marek Nelson who all opted to forgo their senior year of high school to start their college career early. Harmon’s scoring and shooting will instantly be needed in a lineup that loses shooters, Jared Savage and Camron Justice. He should compete to start from day one alongside Taveion Hollingsworth but will have to beat out highly talented returnees in Rawls & Kenny Cooper.
Harmon joins a now growing list of 4-star recruits that Stansbury has got to come to the Hill including Bassey, Rawls, Banton, & Josh Anderson not to mention several high-level transfers. While the star power is nice, Stansbury must prove that he can extend his bench and divvy up minutes to a very talented core.
Should he reclassify, Harmon will be the third commitment in the 2020 class joining Shelbyville three-star guard Dayvion McKnight and Georgia wing Kylen Milton. With Zion’s commitment, WKU is now at 12 of the 13 player limit. Here’s where the 2020–21 roster stands after Harmon’s commitment:
- Taveion Hollingsworth- Senior- Guard
- Josh Anderson- Senior- Wing
- Kenny Cooper- Senior- Guard
- Carson Williams- Senior- Forward
- Patrick Murphy- Senior- Guard^
- Charles Bassey- Junior- Center*
- Jordan Rawls- Sophomore- Guard
- Jeremiah Gambrell- Sophomore- Guard
- Isaiah Cozart-Sophomore- Forward
- Jackson Harlan- Sophmore- Guard-
- Zion Harmon- Freshman- Guard
- Dayvion McKnight- Freshman-Guard
- Kylen Milton- Freshman- Wing
^Murphy is a walk-on, *Bassey may go to NBA, -Harlan could have redshirted in 2019–20
Harmon's commitment will help Stansbury keep the buzz rolling heading into his fifth season, he must prove that he can finally get over the hump and return the Hilltoppers to the NCAA tournament in 2021.
Update: 1:30 PM CT:
It appears that Harmon will not indeed reclassify to 2020 class
While I still wouldn’t completely rule that out a change of heart, we’ll now assume that he won’t join until 2021–22. That clears a backcourt logjam that Harmon would have to fight for minutes with Hollingsworth, Cooper, Rawls, and Gambrell as well as McKnight and Milton. With Hollingsworth, Cooper, and Anderson all set to exhaust their eligibility after the 2020–21 Harmon will easily slide into an open starting lineup with Rawls. This could well be a solid development as long as Stansbury can hold onto Harmon’s commitment until November.
