The first basketball Harper held came in the form of a Nerf foam ball. His first dunk was on a Fisher Price mini-basketball set. At 6'3" and 180 pounds, the lightning fast guard has certainly outgrown his Nerf days, but not his love for the game.
Growing up in Washington D.C., Harper played for the St. Alban's School's varsity team, and played well. He was a two-time All-Interstate Athletic Conference player, and a two-time Most Valuable Player for St. Alban's. Harper was also an honorable mention All-Metropolitan athlete and played for the district All-Stars in the Capital Classic. To top off his numerous accolades, Harper managed to score 44 points in his conference championship win during his senior season.
All those trophies earned the attention of Div. I, II and III basketball coaches from around the country. Harper had narrowed down his choices senior year to the College of William and Mary and Cornell University. He seemed destined to play Div. I ball like most of the other elite D.C. players. However, parents (claim) to know best, and a conversation with his parents convinced Harper to give Amherst a chance. He explained, "That way, even if I got injured and couldn't play ball, I'd be graduating after four years with a degree from an elite school." With the exception of the noticeably absent sound system inside LeFrak Gymnasium, Harper has few complaints about his choice.
Head Coach Dave Hixon '05 has had few grounds for complaint since Harper donned his purple and white #5 jersey four years ago. Last year, Harper was the 2003 NESCAC Defensive Player of the Year, a Second-Team All-NESCAC selection and led the conference in steals per game (3.5). This year, the tri-captain guard and two-year starter picked up right where he left off. For the 2003-2004 season, Harper is averaging 11.4 points, 2.3 assists and a whopping 3.8 steals per game. He has spent more time on the court than any other Jeff this year.
It is Harper's sticky fingers and lightening quick reflexes that have literally stolen the most notice this year. Just last week, Harper surpassed Keith Poopor's '96 long-standing all-time career record of 283 steals. Harper also topped the record books in November when he managed 11 steals in a game against Worcester Polytechnic Institute.
However, as fellow captain John Donovan '04 pointed out, Harper is a jack of many trades. "There's no question that Adam is the best defensive player in the league, if not the country. He has been known throughout the league for the past four years for his defensive abilities," said Donovan.
"Unfortunately, I think that has caused a lot of people to overlook the other things that he does on the basketball court-he is also one of the best rebounding guards in the league and is a great passing two guard," continued his teammate. He didn't stop there, however. "But I think what has been most overlooked is his ability to score. His ability to create his own shot and to make big shots in tight situations has won us many games."
Rather than resting on his laurels, the forward-looking Harper has larger goals in mind. "I think we can definitely win the NCAA tournament this year if we continue to get better and play well," he said. "We need to stay healthy, focus on our remaining schedule and the NESCAC Tournament and then we can start to think about NCAAs." If Michael Jordan were following Harper's performance this season, he would be proud.