Will Harper Dunn be back at Corona High? The answer is unclear

Change is afoot in the life of Harper Dunn.

How much change remains to be seen.

The change we know:

Dunn, the 6-foot-6 post/forward from Corona High School who is rated as one of the nation’s top girls basketball recruits in the Class of 2027, has a new club team.

She has left Kansas City-based MOKAN, from the Nike circuit, for Denver-based Hardwood Elite, on the adidas circuit.

“Denver makes more sense,” said Dunn, 16. “I wanted to spend more time in the gym.”

The travel related to MOKAN, she admitted, was a grind. Denver, she said, was a logical leap to reduce some of that burden. She still spends much of her summer in Stillwater, Oklahoma, which allows her the time to indulge her other passion, working with show steers. She is an award-winner in that capacity, and she’ll be appearing later this year at both the New Mexico State Fair in Albuquerque and the Eastern New Mexico fair in Roswell.

And while it is possible her college choice may be somewhat related to her ability to continue showing steers, basketball is where her bread is buttered, and Dunn is entering a crucial phase.

She will be involved in two club events this month, the last two of her summer, one next week in Cincinnati, and another the following week in South Carolina.

Dunn is currently working out in Denver with Hardwood Elite in preparation, and this, in a roundabout way, leads to the change that neither she nor anyone else yet knows: her future beyond these two club events.

The Journal asked Dunn if she would be returning to Corona for her junior season.

“At the moment,” she answered, “we’re not exactly sure. We’re looking at all the options.”

What are those options?

The short list would include going back to Corona, a small-town environment she has confessed puts her very much at ease.

But even though Dunn is already New Mexico’s career blocked shots leader, the Class 1A environment in Corona, which is a co-op with Vaughn, does not afford Dunn the type of rigorous competition she might crave ahead of her leaving for college in two years.

“For me,” Dunn said, “it’s not just about the competition I’m playing against. One of my goals is, when I get to college, I want to be ready to play. I want to be a freshman who can step on the floor and make a difference.”

This was one of the factors that led former Eldorado star Bella Hines (soon to be a freshman at LSU) to leave the Eagles for the new elite girls club team at ABC Prep in Albuquerque.

This could, in theory, be one of those aforementioned landing spots for Dunn, too. She could also leave the state to attend a prep school, a path taken recently by Los Lunas High’s Jalin Holland, the University of Colorado signee who played his senior season in Phoenix.

The option that surely would generate the most headlines would be if Dunn simply transferred to another — and, presumably, much larger — high school in New Mexico.

And her destination will be under close scrutiny. Dunn is, arguably, New Mexico’s highest profile prep athlete, male or female, regardless of sport, going into the upcoming school year.

Dunn currently has nearly 30 Division I offers, and a decision on which one she’ll select remains months away. More offers may be forthcoming after the Hardwood Elite showings in Ohio and Rock Hill, S.C.

“I think at the moment, I’m less focused on the recruiting process and more focused on becoming a better player,” Dunn said. “I’m just working on that. The rest will follow. It’s a great problem to have. I’m grateful for it.”

Dunn’s evolution on the low post gained some forward momentum in May, when she was invited to try out for the USA Basketball U16 national team. Dunn made it to the final 22, but not to the final 12 at the tryout in Colorado Springs. She hopes to return for another national team tryout next summer.

“That was a really great experience,” Dunn said. “I got to play against the best players in the country in my class.”

It was not immediately known the last time a New Mexican boy or girl was invited to Colorado Springs for a national team tryout at that age level.

“I had a lot of fun, and I really enjoyed it. I was of course disappointed, but it was a fire that I needed to get where I want,” she said.