Dunn for 2025-26? Top NM basketball player aspires to play despite transfer rule
Harper Dunn holds a basketball during Team USA tryouts in late May 2025 in Colorado Springs, Colo. Dunn made the first cut for Team USA and has set a goal to make the final cut next year. Photo courtesy of Blair Dunn.
One of New Mexico’s most prestigious girls’ high school basketball recruits in history will be taking center stage next season in the state’s biggest city.
Or so Harper Dunn hopes.
The 6-foot-6 junior, who played the last three seasons at Class 1A Corona/Vaughn, announced her intention to transfer to Albuquerque Academy, the Albuquerque Journal reported.
The biggest question: Will Dunn be immediately eligible for varsity competition next season as a transfer?
According to the NMAA bylaws, a transfer student is ineligible for varsity competition for 365 calendar days but is eligible immediately for junior varsity competition if the student left the previous school in good standing.
There is no specific NMAA bylaw that addresses Dunn’s case, which is one where she is transferring from a public school within the State of New Mexico to a private school in a different county.
“We look forward to working with the NMAA to follow the rules and treat Harper fairly so that the (No. 20-ranked) player in the nation for the class of 2027 can compete fairly at the appropriate varsity level for Academy this year,” Dunn’s father, Blair Dunn, said in a statement.
Dunn shattered the record books in her sophomore season at Corona/Vaughn. She averaged 20 points, 20 rebounds and 7.5 blocks per game.
Dunn set the record for most blocked shots for a New Mexico high school basketball player, compiling 506 for her career with still two more seasons of eligibility remaining.
“I am very excited for the educational opportunities that I will have at Academy, along with better access to the gym, plus the opportunities for strength and conditioning I will have by moving back to Albuquerque,” Dunn said on her X account.
If Dunn is deemed eligible by the NMAA, the balance of power could shift positively for Academy, which finished last season 24-5, with a quarterfinal appearance and a roster that returns many young, dynamic players under second-year head coach Josh Skarsgard.
“The Albuquerque Academy Girls Basketball Program is not able to comment on any prospective student-athletes until they are enrolled and attending classes on campus,” Skarsgard said in a statement.
Under the bylaws, Dunn has the option to submit a hardship petition to the NMAA and ask that she be declared eligible for varsity competition immediately.
“I am sure the NMAA will make the right decision,” Grants girls' head basketball coach Jessi Mandagaran said. “Their rules were put into action for a reason. They should apply to all, not some.”
The NMAA’s bylaws define “hardship” as “extraordinary medical, financial, or other circumstances that… have contributed to non-compliance with specific eligibility rules.”
Dunn would be required to provide supporting documentation for why her case should be considered a hardship.
“Harper went to Corona during Covid pursuant to a court order at the recommendation of her Guardian Ad Litem (GAL),” Blair Dunn said. “It has been a hardship on her family and her to spend those many hours on the road traveling.”
NMAA Executive Director Dusty Young said that an individual student’s eligibility is kept private.
“That is student information that we would not share with anybody outside of the school administration,” Young said.
Either the NMAA Executive Director or the NMAA’s Hardship Review Committee would decide to grant or deny Dunn’s hardship petition if one were to be submitted. If denied, there is a lengthy appeals process that could bring the case into state district court.
“We are in the business of kids and we need to do what’s best for them,” Hobbs girls’ head basketball coach Joe Carpenter said.
