Yes, Darius Harper, a gusty 6-1, 185 pound combo-guard out of Lewisville (TX)

Hebron HS, is the son of former NBA star Derek Harper. The younger Harper,

a solid player in his own right, recently made a verbal commitment to Boise State.

After a busy summer on the AAU circuit, Harper heard from schools such as Boise

State, Evansville, Drake, UTEP, Southwest Texas, and Colorado State, with

Colorado State offering in the fall. But at that point, Harper wasn't ready to

make a decision, choosing instead to play out his senior year and then select a

school in the spring. After the regular season concluded, Harper started to

make his official visits, first making a trip to Southwest Texas.

After making an official visit to Boise State last week, Harper came back home

and made up his mind. He wanted to be a Bronco.

"He's excited about it," said Hebron head coach Mark Bishop. "He seems to like

the quietness of the place."

While Boise is an awful long way from the Dallas - Fort Worth Metroplex, friends and family

will get a chance to see him play. Because BSU is in the WAC, the Broncos will

play road conference games at places near Harper's home, including hometown

SMU. This was, according to Bishop, something that appealed to Harper. Also

taken into consideration was the system Boise State head coach Paul Graham had

in place.

"It seems like a good fit," said Bishop, who noted that Graham was once an

assistant coach for Ernie Kent at offense-oriented Oregon. "They play an

uptempo style."

Playing full-court basketball is something that's right up Harper's alley, as

he is the type of player who goes all-out on the court. When Harper competed

for Texas Top Prospects in AAU play, he was always around the ball on both

ends. His all-around play helped Top Prospects reach the finals of the Great

American Shootout in Denton, TX last July.

As a junior at Hebron, Harper averaged 21 points as the team relied heavily

upon his scoring. This past season, Harper's scoring dipped to 17.5 points.

But in a classic case where raw numbers don't tell the whole story, it was a

situation where Harper's role changed because of the composition of the team.

"We had more offensive options this year," said Bishop, noting the fact he had

two competent 6-8 post players. "So I asked him to distribute more. He ended

up leading the district in assists (6.8 per game). As a player he's more

well-rounded now and the team benefited." To that end, Harper earned Second

Team 4A All-State honors for his play.

Harper has a rock-solid body - more advanced than his father's at the same age

- which helps him in getting to the basket with regularity. He has a knack of

getting to the foul line, where he converted at a 78 percent accuracy last

season. While he is not particularly a marksman from the outside, he can hit

enough from beyond the three-point arc to keep defenses honest.

Bishop does feel that Harper's defensive skills will need to be refined at the

next level. But both coach and player think that he has what it takes to

contribute immediately at Boise State.

"He feels pretty good about coming in and playing right away," said Bishop.

Bishop noted that Derek was very involved in Darius' recruitment, and

personally talked to every head coach of each school that was recruiting

Darius. However, at the same time he left the decision completely up to

Darius, and supported him in whichever direction he chose.

"He wanted Darius to have what he felt was the best fit for him," said Nelson.

"So I think he's pretty happy with the decision."

Jed Tai is a senior writer for Hoopville.com.