Let’s Go Wildcats! Bethune-Cookman picked up a big victory for the HBCU Movement on Friday afternoon, announcing that four-star recruit Zion Harmon has transferred into the program from Western Kentucky. Harmon is the highest-ranked recruit in program history, ranked 50th by ESPN, and the top player from Kentucky in the 2022 class. He decommitted from WKU last Thursday.
“It’s a credit to the great staff that we’ve built here,” B-CU head coach Reggie Theus said, “For a player of Zion’s caliber to choose B-CU, I think it shows the confidence that people around the country have in our program and where the program can go.”
Harmon dominated the Kentucky high school basketball scene, averaging 25.4 points during his junior season and 22.3 points per game in his senior year. He became one of only 26 players in Kentucky High School Athletic Association history to surpass 1,000 points in a season.
To couple with all that, he’s dominated on large stages. Starring at Hoophall West’s Bella Vista Prep, he outdueled 2020-21 NBA Rookie of the Year, LaMelo Ball, scoring 23 points and picking up 9 rebounds against him. In the 2017 FIBA U-16 Americas Championship, he averaged 11.4 points and 3.2 assists per game, leading his team toward a gold medal.
After choosing WKU over the likes of Auburn, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisville, LSU, Maryland, Seton Hall, Tennessee, and more, he decommitted from the program last Thursday. It did not take him long to find a new home though, as he will be playing under former NBA all-star Reggie Theus.
Theus knows how it is to be a big-time college player, being picked with the 9th overall pick out of UNLV. He only coupled that success up in the pros, being named a two-time NBA all-star while averaging 18.5 points and 6.3 assists per game.
Bethune-Cookman went 9-21 in his first season at the helm, but he has had success as a head coach, taking New Mexico State to the NCAA Tournament in 2007.
The Wildcats should shoot up in the preseason SWAC rankings.