Harwell chose Kelvin Sampson and Co. over an impressive list of suitors
• 2 min read
Five-star shooting guard Isiah Harwell, the No. 12 recruit in the class of 2025 according to 247Sports’ rankings, committed to Houston on Thursday. He is the highest-rated recruit in program history, narrowly beating out Jarace Walker.
Harwell announced his decision on YouTube. He chose the Cougars over Gonzaga, Texas and California.
Harwell, an Idaho native, is currently enrolled at Wasatch Academy in Utah. The 6-foot-6, 200-pounder is coming off a knee injury, but he was showing great signs before that. From 247Sports Director of Scouting Adam Finkelstein’s scouting report …
At 6-foot-6, Harwell has good backcourt size, strength, and physicality. He’s a true two-way player who impacts the game on both ends of the floor. He plays hard, competes, and is versatile enough to play as a big secondary guard or a more conventional wing.
Offensively, his mid-range pull-up was his most defined early weapon. He had good lift into his release, sometimes even a little fade to help get it off, and was very proficient at scoring over top of smaller defenders. He used the glass well and could also incorporate some runners into an advanced mid-range game. While he wasn’t always as comfortable shooting from deeper range, he made steady progress, and seemed to be shooting a much more natural ball from behind the arc last fall. He wasn’t a natural creator or dynamic handler, but didn’t waste dribbles either. He cut well off the ball and had the type of efficient floor game that could fit right into offensive structure.
There were signs of real physical progression last fall too. His power was becoming a real differentiator on the perimeter, he was getting loose in transition more often, and rising up to finish with more explosiveness than we had previously seen.
Defensively, he’s undoubtedly advanced. While he doesn’t have much length (measured 6-foot-7 wingspan), he’s tough and competitive on that end of the floor. He can pick-up and guard away from the scoring area, but also has the size and physicality to be switchable up the line-up.
Kelvin Sampson has turned Houston into one of the nation’s true powerhouses, with the Cougars having made the last six tournaments and having won more games than any team other than Gonzaga over that stretch. A large part of Sampson’s success has come from outstanding guard play — Jamal Shead, Marcus Sasser and Quentin Grimes come to mind most recently — and the Cougars’ head coach hopes Harwell is next in line.
Houston went 32-5 and won the Big 12 regular-season title in its first year in its new conference. The Cougars lost to Duke in the Sweet 16.
