Iowa continues to evaluate Harding

One of the most exciting point guards in the Midwest is hoping that this spring will lead to more scholarship offers, perhaps even a few from high major programs.

That point guard is Brock Harding and the Moline, IL standout and leader of the Mid-Pro 17U team was putting on a show again this past weekend in Indianapolis with a host of coaches looking on.

“Last spring I didn’t play great, but then last summer I played well and got back into the mix for high mid-major offers. This spring is big to see if I can push it to the high major level in the eyes of the coaches,” Harding said.

While he doesn’t take inventory of the coaches who are seated on the baseline for his games, Harding said it’s hard not to notice when coaches like Fran McCaffery are watching his games and evaluating his performance.

In his first game last Friday with McCaffery and a host of major college coaches looking on, Harding created a turnover in overtime and finished the game with a lob dunk to his teammate at the horn for a victory.

It’s those type of plays that could lead to that high major offer.

“Playing in front of the coaches really gets the adrenaline pumping,” he said.

Last week Harding picked up an offer from Loyola (CHI), who is headed to the A-10. That was another big step for him in his recruiting journey.

“That was a big time offer. I really appreciate the coaching staff there. They have been watching me during the high school season and now I have an opportunity to play there.”

Following a strong weekend performance, St. Louis University, also in the A-10 jumped in with a scholarship offer for the 2023 point guard. He also has an offer from Mountain West school Colorado State, where he visited last fall and again in March for their final regular season game.

The next step will be if a high major school puts an offer on the table. Iowa has been interested in Harding for quite a while and touched base just before the start of the live evaluation period.

“I talked to Coach Speraw and he said they were going to be coming to watch me this week. I saw Coach MCaffery over watching today. I know he’s watching Owen (Freeman) too, but they are also still evaluating me.”

Having Freeman in the fold for the Hawkeyes in the Class of 2023 would be appealing to Harding if he were to get a scholarship offer from Iowa because of the chemistry the two have on the court.

“It would be really nice to go to the next level with one of my AAU teammates because we all get along so well together,” Harding said.

In addition to Iowa, Harding said that Iowa State and Minnesota are continuing to evaluate him.