Five-Star Guard Isiah Harwell Commits to Houston, Not Cal

The Golden Bears were one of the four finalists for the Idaho basketball star ranked among the nation's top 10 prospects by several recruiting sites

Isiah Harwell / Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images

Cal was one of four finalists for five-star guard Isiah Harwell, but he announed on Thursday that he has committed to Houston.

Gonzaga, Texas and Cal were the other three schools he considered.

The 6-foot-5, 190-pound Harwell is from Pocatello, Idaho, but is attending Wasatch Academy in Mount Pleasant, Utah.

He is rated the nation’s No. 7 prospect in the class of 2025 by 247 Sports Composite rankings, No. 8 by both Rivals and On3, and No. 14 by ESPN.

Harwell averaged 14.9 points in 2023-24 as a junior, but he played only 10 games before suffering a season-ending knee injury that also forced him to miss a good portion of the summer AAU circuit.

Cal was among the finalists for Harwell partly because his father, former Idaho State basketball star Ron Harwell, has been friends with Cal assistant coach Amorrow Morgan since childhood.

This is what Harwell told On3 sports this summer regarding his interest in Cal:

“Coach Amarrow Morgan grew up with my dad. So he has been a really close family friend for a while. I’ve been talking with Coach Mark [Madsen]. You know, Jaylen Brown went out there and had a lot of success, so it is an underrated school. It is always good if you can go somewhere, produce massive minutes, and change things around. They’re starting to play well these last few games.”

Had Harwell committed to Cal, he would have been the third-highest-rated recruit to come to Berkeley. Only Jason Kidd and Jaylen Brown were rated higher.

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