{"id":820036,"date":"2024-10-16T11:00:18","date_gmt":"2024-10-16T15:00:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.slamonline.com\/?p=820036"},"modified":"2024-10-16T11:00:20","modified_gmt":"2024-10-16T15:00:20","slug":"dylan-harper-ace-bailey-253-cover-story","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.slamonline.com\/college-hs\/dylan-harper-ace-bailey-253-cover-story\/","title":{"rendered":"Range Brothers: Dylan Harper and Ace Bailey Talk Coordinated Commitment to Rutgers, Building a Brotherhood and Sights on the NBA"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

It\u2019s a gloomy Thursday afternoon in late September as Ace Bailey and Dylan Harper descend the steps of the RWJBarnabas Health Athletic Performance Center\u2014Rutgers’ still-new sparkling practice facility. The campus, tucked away in Piscataway, NJ, is quiet, but only for a moment. The freshman duo cross the street and arrive under the sky bridge that connects the practice facility to the Business School’s (also new) building. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The pair of six-story structures are wrapped in abstract silver paneling with crystal clear glass composing the full face of the main wing\u2019s entrance. Ten white beams sit at an angle supporting the L-shaped walkway above. Black adirondack chairs and tables are sprawled out underneath the shade that the canopy above provides. It\u2019s a sick scene. Flick worthy for sure. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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SLAM 253 featuring Ace Bailey and Dylan Harper is available now.<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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SHOP NOW<\/strong><\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

As we wipe away rain that fell on the chairs just 15 minutes before, the doors of the building swing open. Class is out. Students wearing sweatpants, backpacks, slides and with iPhones in hands pour out of the automatic double doors. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Initially, the kids don\u2019t pay any mind to the 6-10 and 6-6 freshmen who will be leading the Scarlet Knights into the 2024-25 season as one of the most talked-about teams in the country. And then Dylan starts messing with his boy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cFree pictures with Ace Bailey! Ace Bailey\u2019s here!\u201d Dylan, who’s wearing a black Rick Owens jacket and black PRPS jeans, calls out to the crowd of students trying to make it to their next class. Ace isn\u2019t having it. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cTHE Dylan Harper. Five dollars for a photo with Dylan Harper!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The two go back and forth for 30 seconds, until a group of students starts to gather. This wasn\u2019t the intention. They were just trying to mess with each other. A healthy balance of embarrassment, if you will. But before we know it, a line has formed and the two have created a routine that\u2019s down pat. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Dylan holds the adidas basketball stamped with the Rutgers R and stands to the right. Ace, who’s wearing a black sweatsuit with red accents from the Lifestyle Sports Agency, which was founded by Sharife Cooper’s dad, Omar, and currently reps the Tennessee native, stands to the left with room in between them. They wave someone over and Dylan asks if they want to hold the ball. They smile while a friend takes the photo. A few dap-ups follow and encouragement for the season, then it’s off to class, the dining hall or the dorm. After about five minutes, the line disperses, and Ace and Dylan go right back to posing for their SLAM cover shoot.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This has never been the norm for Rutgers basketball. Impromptu meet and greets. Sold-out season tickets months out from the season. Thirty-plus journalists showing up for media day. It all represents just a bit of the hype that this pair of freshmen have injected into the program. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

As the No. 2 and No. 4 players in the Class of 2024 (per ESPN), Ace Bailey and Dylan Harper are the highest-ranked recruits to ever suit up in the Scarlet red. And that\u2019s no shade to the likes of Phil Sellers, James Bailey and other Rutgers legends, but the energy around campus this year is different. These kids don\u2019t just walk with the gusto of rock stars, they play like it, too. NBA scouts, head coach Steve Pikiell and the students who just got out of class all know it. And to think it all started with a Big Ten win nearly two years ago.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s January 15, 2023, and Ace Bailey is on his official visit to Rutgers. He\u2019s with now-sophomore Jamichael Davis, sitting behind the bench waiting for Ohio State vs. Rutgers to tip.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\u201cAnd then Coach Pike\u2019s coming down talking to me and J-Mike [Jamichael Davis] like, Come on, put your stuff on. Y\u2019all ready?<\/em> That just showed us right there that he\u2019s excited for us to come down,\u201d Ace says. \u201cAnd I\u2019m still a junior, I wasn\u2019t even a senior yet. So, him saying that, it meant a lot to let us know he\u2019s ready. He\u2019s ready to pour into us and give it his all. So we\u2019re ready to give our all for him.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Amid the hype and excitement in the locker room after watching the team rally together for a thrilling overtime win, Ace knew that this was where he was supposed to be. He leaned over to Coach Pikiell and verbally committed to the program on the spot. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI didn\u2019t have any idea that I was going to commit that day, but what I felt in the locker room was something that I wanted to be a part of. So I committed, and from there we went out to eat,\u201d Ace says. \u201cB. Knight [associate head coach Brandin Knight] called Dylan and was like, Talk to Dylan<\/em>. And I was like, I just did it, it\u2019s your turn now<\/em>. He was like, I got you<\/em>.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Ace Bailey might be the best recruiter in the country \ud83d\ude2d\ud83d\udd25@slam_university<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/3zWdpDsR4y<\/a><\/p>— SLAM HS Hoops (@SLAM_HS) December 6, 2023<\/a><\/blockquote>