Harper Dunn of Corona has a national profile that is skyrocketing

Harper Dunn was on the other end of the phone, about 600 miles away, a passenger in a car that was motoring somewhere in the middle of Oklahoma on Wednesday afternoon.

She apologized.

Another call was coming in, someone from Kansas State University, and she would have to abruptly put this conversation on pause.

About 30 minutes later, Dunn called back and apologized again for the interruption.

But she had news.

The phone call yielded another Division I offer. This is how quickly things are moving right now in her world.

The 6-foot-6 Corona High School incoming sophomore, a rapidly rising national star in girls basketball, has seen her stock soar in the last few days.

A club event last weekend in Louisville, the huge Run 4 Roses Classic — which is where Dunn first made a splash a year ago — has proved to be a veritable Kentucky derby for Dunn, who went to the 2024 event with four D-I offers, including her first Power 5 offer, from the University of Oklahoma.

By the middle of Wednesday, the number had swelled to 10. She received five offers on Tuesday alone.

“Harper pulled some things together that she’s been working on over the last year,” said Dunn’s stepmother, Beky Preston, explaining the burst of new D-I offers. “This was a huge tournament, one of the biggest in the country.”

A week ago, Dunn had offers from Eastern Michigan, New Mexico State and Wichita State.

Late last week, she was on Oklahoma’s campus, minus her shoes which were muddy after she stepped in a puddle. Not wanting to dirty the basketball department’s office floors, Dunn walked about inside the building in her socks.

“Honestly, it’s a little funny. I just came in from working show cattle. I was an absolute mess,” Dunn, 15, said with a laugh.

A short time later, the Sooners became the most significant program yet to offer Dunn a scholarship.

“We had no idea. We were entirely caught off guard,” Dunn said. “It was a fantastic thing.”

With her in the room in Norman was Preston, the former La Cueva superstar who once played at OU herself.

“It was a full-circle moment,” Preston said, “sitting in that office that I sat in many, many times. And all the excitement, all the possibility (for Harper), and having an understanding of what an opportunity she has in front of her.”

Said Dunn, “I have an offer to do the same (as Beky). That’s super cool and it doesn’t happen that often.”

Following an impressive showing at the EYBL portion of the massive Run 4 Roses Classic in Louisville, other offers began pouring in.

Texas Tech, the first team to scout Dunn in person, last season at a tournament in Dora, offered. So did TCU. Plus Oklahoma State, Ole Miss and Mississippi State. All within a few hours of each other on Tuesday.

“It was a chaotic day,” Dunn said. “A little tiring … it’s a very good problem to have.”

Kansas State was her 10th offer. By Wednesday evening, her social media account was busy again. She was up to 13 scholarship offers with Louisville, Oregon (coached by former Lobo Kelly Graves) and Colorado added to the list.

Dunn said she was uncertain what college recruiters had seen in Kentucky that has led to this new flurry of offers.

“I’m not sure if I know how to answer that question,” she said. “The rebounding thing is big, just running the floor well, being able to move, being a versatile player that can do more than one thing is the biggest (reason).”

Preston said Dunn’s inherent defensive talent, both as a rebounder and shot blocker — and shot alterer — were only part of the picture.

“It’s being able to run the floor well, to be able to catch the ball and use touch around the rim. How to guard screens, how to set screens, how to help her teammates deal with screens,” Preston said. “Things she’s been working on but hadn’t had the opportunity to use in a game setting.”

And clearly, her progress caught a few eyeballs.

“She really committed herself in June to working on her own individual skill set,” Preston said. “And she did an excellent job. She is becoming a stellar basketball player, and a stellar teammate.”

Dunn was emphatic as she said her focus was not on stacking offers.

“My goal is not to get my name out there, I just want to be a better basketball player and better teammate, and help our team accomplish what it wants,” she said.

This June and July, Dunn has been living in Stillwater, Oklahoma, with her grandfather — this is related to Dunn’s other passion, working with show steers, and she likely will appear at the New Mexico State Fair in September — and will return home in a couple of weeks with the first day of classes arriving soon in Corona.

Her club basketball season concludes this weekend in Chicago, at Nike Nationals, where her team, MOKAN (Missouri/Kansas, a team based in Kansas City) qualified through a play-in game in Louisville.

Dunn was asked if she had any plans to leave tiny Corona, one of the state’s smallest high schools, to eventually join the new ABC Prep girls basketball traveling team in Albuquerque which is looking to add prominent talent. This is the team Bella Hines left Eldorado to join earlier this year.

“Yeah, what I think they’re doing with the ABC Prep team, it’s amazing. It’s phenomenal for girls basketball in New Mexico,” Dunn said. “And I’m definitely gonna support them. But for me, the best place is Corona. It keeps me tied down to what I truly value, and believe in.”

NOTE: Dunn, who did a bit of color commentary at the state high school tournament in March after her team was eliminated, wants to continue doing that whenever possible. She also called the Class 1A/2A All-Star Game.

“Maybe I’d like to find a career in something like that,” she said.