AUBURN, Ala. – Any time Jared Harper steps on the court, there's this belief that he's the best player out there. It doesn't matter if he's at practice with his teammates or playing in the Maui Invitational against the likes of Duke, Arizona and Xavier. Fear never crosses the mind of the Auburn point guard.
"I don't feel like I'm scared of anything," Harper said. "I feel like I've prepared this whole offseason. I've prepared my whole life to be in the situation I'm in. So I have no fear in anything. I have a lot of confidence in myself. It's brought me a long way."
That confidence has never been more evident than it was during the first game in Maui against a solid Xavier team. It was a critical game to open the tournament, and the Tigers were clinging to a one-point lead with just over two minutes remaining in overtime. They were also playing short-handed due to foul trouble, and they needed somebody to step up and make a play.
Harper got a ball screen from teammate Horace Spencer, went to his right and took off toward the basket. Most people, including his teammates and coaches, assumed he would try to lay it in and maybe draw a foul. He also could have tried dishing it to a cutting Chuma Okeke.
Instead, the 5-foot-11 Harper elevated and delivered one of the dunks of the year in college basketball, dunking over one of the Xavier defenders who was probably eight inches taller.
5'11 vs 6'7 🛫💥😱@Therealvinoo got bunnies. 🐰#WarEagle x #SCtop10 pic.twitter.com/WouMI0PfMM
— Auburn Basketball (@AuburnMBB) November 19, 2018
"All I remember is I gave Jared a ball screen to go right, and then once he took off, 'Boom goes the dynamite,'" Spencer said.
"I was on the bench, and I just remember I saw him get a big switched on him," fellow teammate Anfernee McLemore said. "It might have been a ball screen, but I saw the guy go under. Jared went to the lane like he always does, and then he rolled up and dunked it. It was a surprise when he actually dunked it. I don't think anybody was expecting him to."
The dunk caught Auburn assistant coach Steven Pearl off guard, too. He still remembers when Harper was a freshman and tried to dunk on Luke Kornet (7-foot-1) at Vanderbilt, and it didn't go so well. This time, Harper threw it down with authority, and Pearl grabbed Wes Flanigan sitting next to him and simply said, "Wow."
But it was just further proof of this confidence that Harper plays with now.
"The coolest thing about Jared is he walks out on the floor, and he thinks he's the best player every night," Steven Pearl said. "It doesn't matter who he's playing against. Kyrie [Irving] could be out there, and Jared's going to think he's going to play better than him. That says a lot about Jared and the type of kid and the kind of player he is."
"With Jared, he probably is the best player on any court he steps on," added McLemore. "He's an amazing talent, and he has the confidence to go with it. It's not surprising that he's not afraid to step up with a 6-8 guy. He could've easily went the other way, but with Jared Harper, that's what you expect."
The dunk itself was the top play on the Sportscenter Top 10 that night, and ESPN host Scott Van Pelt even opened his show featuring the dunk on his "Best thing I saw today" segment. There's no telling how many times the replay has been seen by fans as the video of it went viral.
More importantly, it changed that particular game. It gave the players a lift. It got the crowd into it. And it was the spark Auburn needed as the Tigers went on a 10-2 run after that to close out the game.
Some plays define a season. That play defined Jared Harper.
"I feel like I've always been one of the best college point guards, and I've worked hard this whole summer just trying to put myself in that position," Harper said. "Last year, I had a great year, but this year would be me going to another level. I always thought about that during my offseason workouts. I've just been preparing for the moment."
Greg Ostendorf is a Senior Writer for AuburnTigers.com. Follow him on Twitter: @greg_ostendorf