Zion Lamont Harmon (born March 12, 2002) is an American

college basketball College basketball is basketball that is played by teams of Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. In the Higher education in the United States, United States, colleges and universities are governed by collegiate athle ...

player currently in the transfer portal. He previously played for the

Seton Hall Pirates The Seton Hall Pirates are the intercollegiate athletic sports teams representing Seton Hall University, located in South Orange, New Jersey. The Pirates compete as a member of the NCAA Division I level (non-football sub-level), primarily compet ...

and the Bethune-Cookman Wildcats].

Early life

At age 11, Harmon made headlines as the top fourth-grade basketball player in the United States. In seventh grade, he joined the

varsity team A varsity team is the highest-level team in a sport or activity representing an educational institution. Varsity teams train to compete against each other during an athletic season or in periodic matches against rival institutions. At high schools ...

at Lighthouse Christian School in

Antioch, Tennessee Antioch is a neighborhood of Nashville located approximately southeast of Downtown Nashville. It is served by the Metropolitan Government of Nashville and Davidson County. History 19th century The community known as Antioch began at the ...

. He became the first seventh-grade player to compete in the

Nike Elite Youth Basketball League The Nike Elite Youth Basketball League, also known as Nike EYBL, or simply EYBL, is a basketball circuit for teams of players aged 17 and under. The circuit was founded in 2010 and is composed of AAU travel teams. Both boys and girls play in the ...

. For eighth grade, Harmon moved to Bowling Green High School in

Bowling Green, Kentucky Bowling Green is a city in Warren County, Kentucky, United States, and its county seat. Its population was 72,294 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the List of cities in Kentucky, third-most populous city in the stat ...

and led the team to its first state title, alongside current NBA player

Terry Taylor Paul Worden Taylor III (born August 12, 1955) is an American retired professional wrestler better known by his ring name Terry Taylor and for his time as an in-ring performer in National Wrestling Alliance, World Championship Wrestling, and Wo ...

. Because of a coaching change at Bowling Green, Harmon transferred to Adair County High School in

Columbia, Kentucky Columbia is a home rule-class city just above Russell Creek in Adair County, Kentucky, United States. The population was 4,452 at the 2010 census. Columbia is the seat of its county. History The area was settled by Daniel Trabue. The post o ...

for his freshman season. He averaged 32.7 points and 7.8 assists per game, and was recognized as

MaxPreps MaxPreps is an American website that specializes in coverage of American high school sports. The site is currently owned by PlayOn. Founded on August 1, 2002, the company has covered up to 29 sports, including boys, girls, and co-ed sports. ...

National Freshman of the Year. He moved to Marshall County High School in

Benton, Kentucky Benton is a home rule-class city and the county seat of Marshall County, Kentucky, United States. The current mayor of this city is Rita Dotson. The population was 4,756 at the 2020 census. History Benton was founded in 1842 by John Bearden ...

but sat out his sophomore season after being ruled ineligible. During that time, Harmon joined Bella Vista Prep, a team based in

Scottsdale, Arizona Scottsdale is a city in eastern Maricopa County, Arizona, United States, and is part of the Phoenix metropolitan area. Named Scottsdale in 1894 after its founder Winfield Scott (chaplain), Winfield Scott, a retired Chaplain Corps (United States ...

. He won the Grind Session title and was named game MVP. As a junior at Marshall County, Harmon averaged 25.4 points and five rebounds per game. In his senior season, he averaged 22.3 points, earning all-state honors from ''

The Courier-Journal The ''Courier Journal'', also known as the ''Louisville Courier Journal'' (and informally ''The C-J'' or ''The Courier''), and called ''The Courier-Journal'' between November 8, 1868, and October 29, 2017, is a daily newspaper published in ...

'' for a fourth time. A consensus four-star recruit, Harmon committed to playing

for

Western Kentucky Western Kentucky is the western portion of the U.S. state of Kentucky. It generally includes part or all of several more widely recognized regions of the state. ;Always included * The Jackson Purchase, the state's westernmost generally recogniz ...

over offers from

Kansas Kansas ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to the west. Kansas is named a ...

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It borders the states of Virginia to its south, West Virginia to its west, Pennsylvania to its north, and Delaware to its east ...

Murray State Murray State University (MSU) is a public university in Murray, Kentucky, in the Southern United States. In addition to the main campus in Calloway County in southwestern Kentucky, Murray State operates extended campuses offering upper-level an ...

and

Seton Hall Seton Hall University (SHU) is a Private university, private Catholic Church, Catholic research university in South Orange, New Jersey, United States. Founded in 1856 by then-Bishop James Roosevelt Bayley and named after his aunt, Saint Elizab ...

National team career

Harmon represented the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

at the

2017 FIBA Under-16 Americas Championship The 2017 FIBA Under-16 Americas Championship was the men's international basketball competition that was held in Formosa, Argentina from 14–18 June 2017. The successfully defended their title against , 111–60, in the rematch of the Finals ...

in Argentina. He averaged 11.4 points and 3.2 assists per game, helping his team win the gold medal.

Personal life

Harmon's older brother, Zalmico, played college basketball for

UC Santa Barbara The University of California, Santa Barbara (UC Santa Barbara or UCSB) is a public land-grant research university in Santa Barbara County, California, United States. Tracing its roots back to 1891 as an independent teachers college, UCSB joined ...

References

External links

Western Kentucky Hilltoppers bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Harmon, Zion 2002 births Living people American men's basketball players Basketball players from Washington, D.C. Sportspeople from Bethesda, Maryland Basketball players from Montgomery County, Maryland Point guards 21st-century American sportsmen