Key Takeaways
- Maria Harper, mother of Spurs guard Dylan Harper, wants to coach the Philippine national team as she considers another chapter in her roughly 30-year coaching career.
- The Philippines-born former college player coached at DePaul Catholic and Don Bosco Prep while helping develop Dylan and his older brother, Ron Harper Jr.
- Dylan earned NBA All-Rookie First Team honors after San Antonio drafted him No. 2 overall in 2025, then took on a larger role during the Spurs’ run to the 2026 NBA Finals.
Dylan Harper has already reached the NBA Finals with the San Antonio Spurs. Now his mother, Maria Harper, wants another shot from the bench—this time with the Philippine national team. The veteran coach revealed that returning to coaching remains on her mind after spending her first season away from the sidelines in roughly three decades.
“I took a little time off, but I’ve got one more itch I’d like to scratch,” Maria told Brandon “Scoop B” Robinson at the inaugural Harper U event at Don Bosco Prep in Ramsey, New Jersey. “I don’t know where that will be, but I would love an opportunity to coach the Philippine national team.”
The position would carry personal significance for Harper, who immigrated from the Philippines at age seven before growing up in Paterson, New Jersey.
Maria’s interest is backed by far more than her experience raising two NBA players. She played college basketball at the University of New Orleans, began coaching in Chicago, and has spent approximately 30 years working from the bench.
Basketball also became part of her life shortly after arriving in the United States. With her mother working full-time, Maria spent her afternoons playing basketball, baseball, volleyball, and track and field.
Her coaching career later became intertwined with the development of Dylan and his older brother, Ron Harper Jr. Maria left her position as the head girls’ basketball coach at DePaul Catholic because its schedule would have prevented her from watching Ron play in high school.
She eventually returned to the bench as an assistant at Don Bosco while Dylan attended the school. Despite their NBA pedigree—both are sons of five-time NBA champion Ron Harper—Maria said neither boy entered middle school surrounded by recruiters. “It wasn’t like programs were clawing to get them,” she said.
Dylan ultimately became a consensus five-star prospect and McDonald’s All-American at Don Bosco before rewriting the freshman record book at Rutgers. He scored 564 points during his lone college season, averaging 19.4 points, 4.6 rebounds, and four assists per game.
The San Antonio Spurs selected him with the No. 2 pick in the 2025 NBA Draft, and he averaged 11.8 points, 3.9 assists and 3.4 rebounds across 69 regular-season games. His role grew during San Antonio’s run to the 2026 NBA Finals, capping a season that also earned him NBA All-Rookie First Team honors.
Maria said the Spurs forced Dylan to adjust after years of operating as the centerpiece at Don Bosco and Rutgers. “Being challenged to play alongside top-tier talent and earn every single minute in that system was great for him,” she said. “Nothing was given; everything was earned.”
