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On the Court
Everything about Hardman's game starts with his shot. Calling it silky would be accurate, and the numbers back up such a characterization.
As a sophomore at Princeton, he shot 46.4 percent from the field, 39.5 percent from 3-point range and 92 percent from the free-throw line. To put into perspective how much he relied upon his outside shot, 129 of his 224 shot attempts were from behind the arc, meaning he launched 5.4 triples per game and knocked them down at a near-40-percent clip. With the game of basketball necessitating a higher reliance on outside shooting than ever before, it makes sense why Ohio State wanted him.
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“I think definitely what I do best is penetrating and getting stronger at the basket for a guy my size,” Hardman told Eleven Warriors last year. “But also, I think, one of the biggest things is definitely my shot. Shooting's a big thing now in college, and I feel like I can do that exceptionally well. Also not just that but creating space for shots and creating space for other teammates and moving around. I think that's a big part of my game, as well, is being long for my size and being able to guard well on help side and stuff like that. I think that's a big plus.”
He's listed on national recruiting sites at 6-foot-3 and 160 pounds. But in actuality, he's an inch or two taller with room to grow and fill out his body. As a young prospect, he physically has quite a bit of development left. Ohio State already saw enough to both offer him a scholarship in the fall and honor his commitment this week.
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Intangibles
For being only in high school, Hardman has dealt with a tremendous amount of adversity over the past couple of years. In March 2019, late in his freshman year at Princeton, Hardman's father David died after a year-long battle with multiple myeloma, a rare type of blood cancer.
A Princeton graduate who coached girls' basketball at Cincinnati-area high schools for many years, David Hardman had a significant impact on his son both on and off the court.
"He's the No. 1 guy that I play for," Bowen Hardman told WCPO's Mike Dyer earlier this year.
Hardman, an upbeat high schooler wrapping up his sophomore year, has admirably refused to let that hinder his growth as a basketball player – even though it couldn't have possibly been easy.
"It really could've gone either way when David died," Dawn Hardman said to WCPO. "He could've completely given up basketball, but now he's even more determined to be successful."
In a few years, he'll be playing to honor his dad in a Buckeye uniform.
