Another former highly regarded basketball recruit is making his way to Seton Hall via the transfer portal.
Zion Harmon, a 6-foot sophomore point guard from Bethune-Cookman, committed to the Pirates Saturday. He is the Hall’s fifth incoming transfer for 2024-25 – four of them were rated four stars coming out of high school.
He are three things to know about Harmon, who has two years of eligibility left.
1. He was a youth basketball prodigy.
Nov 6, 2023; Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA; Bethune-Cookman Wildcats guard Zion Harmon (1) works around Minnesota Golden Gophers guard Braeden Carrington (4) during the second half at Williams Arena.
A Maryland native, Harmon played two years of high school ball while still in middle school, participated on the U.S. under-16 national team and was a consensus four-star, top-75 recruit in the Class of 2021. Seton Hall was among his suitors back then, and Harmon took an official visit to South Orange at that time before choosing Western Kentucky. His other official visits as a high-schooler: Kansas, Maryland and Louisville.
He never played at Western Kentucky, though, dropping out of school midway through the 2021-22 season before transferring to Bethune-Cookman. “Personal reasons,” Western Kentucky coach Rick Stansbury said at the time.
Worth noting: As a result of his prodigy days, Harmon has 217,000 Instagram followers.
2. He produced as a lead guard at Bethune-Cookman.
Over two seasons with the Wildcats, Harmon averaged 14.1 points, 2.1 rebounds, 3.4 assists, 1.3 steals and 2.9 turnovers per game. He shot 39 percent from the field, .299 from 3-point range and .876 from the free-throw line.
He was first-team All-SWAC this past season after earning second-team and Freshman of the Year honors in 2022-23. The Wildcats finished 17-17 in 2023-24, including 11-7 in the SWAC.
Harmon’s performances against high-majors as a sophomore: 11 points on 4-of-11 shooting with 2 steals and 3 turnovers in a loss at Minnesota, and 7 points on 3-of-9 shooting with 2 assists, 2 blocks and 2 turnovers in a loss at Mississippi State. As a freshman he had a 15-point, 7-assist, 3-turnover outing in a loss at Iowa (he shot 5-of-18).
3. He will share point guard duties at the Hall.
No one player can replace Kadary Richmond, and Pirates coach Shaheen Holloway has made it clear that his preferred style is to share playmaking duties among three guards rather than rely on a ball-dominant lead dog. It seems clear that Harmon and Old Dominion transfer Chaunce Jenkins will be two of those guys.
Adding an impact big man will be a priority now. Seton Hall has been visited by well-regarded East Carolina transfer Ezra Ausar recently. Stay tuned.
Seton Hall’s projected 2024-25 depth chart
Guards (4): Chaunce Jenkins, Dylan Addae-Wusu (projecting he stays), Zion Harmon, Jahseem Felton.
Wings (2): Isaiah Coleman, Scotty Middleton.
Bigs (5): Prince Aligbe, Gus Yalden, David Tubek, Godswill Erheriene, Assane Mbaye.
Jerry Carino has covered the New Jersey sports scene since 1996 and the college basketball beat since 2003. He is an Associated Press Top 25 voter. Contact him at [email protected].
This article originally appeared on Asbury Park Press: Seton Hall basketball adds Zion Harmon, transfer from Bethune-Cookman
