Las Vegas High School player Bryce Harper, a sophomore, appears on the cover of this week’s Sports Illustrated, which compares him to LeBron James.
Thursday, June 25, 2009 | 11:56 p.m.
Prep Sports Now
The Bryce Harper debate
Las Vegas Sun reporters Steve Silver and Ray Brewer discuss baseball phenom Bryce Harper's decision to leave high school early and enroll at the College of Southern Nevada. Silver and Brewer also applaud the decision to televise high school football games on Thursday nights.
Sun Archives
Sun Archives
- SI cover boy leaving high school after two years (6-25-2009)
- Las Vegas 'prodigy' makes Sports Illustrated cover (6-2-2009)
- Talent sky-high, feet on ground (5-7-2009)
- It's a swing of beauty (2-7-2009)
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Bryce Harper is the nation's best high school baseball player.
The Las Vegas High sophomore was named Baseball America's national High School Player of the Year this week to cap a month where the 16-year-old went from local star to being recognized nationally as a baseball prodigy.
Harper appeared on the cover of Sports Illustrated three weeks ago with a headline proclaiming he is 'Baseball's Chosen One' and has been in the spotlight ever since, including this week when he became the first non-senior to capture the Baseball America award in its 18-year existence.
A Youtube.com video of Harper participating in a home run hitting contest has more than 1 million views, his autograph sold on Ebay.com for around $100 and he has been the lead story on Yahoo.com multiple times.
And that was before the Harper-mania took off.
He been the topic of much debate since announcing two weeks ago that he is skipping his final two years in high school to play at the College of Southern Nevada.
Whether or not you agree with his decision to take the GED test and play junior college baseball, you can't argue his talent.
The 6-foot-3, 205-pounder batted .626 with 14 home runs and 55 RBIs this spring.
The publication also named Las Vegas' Bishop Gorman High as its high school team of the year this week. Gorman finished the year ranked No. 1 in the Baseball America poll.
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