Las Vegas roots, Mormon family

Bryce was born in Las Vegas to Sheri and Ron Harper. The family was active in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints — Bryce attended Las Vegas LDS seminary while at Las Vegas High School. His older brother Bryan also played college baseball (LSU) and was drafted by the Washington Nationals in 2011 (after Bryce was drafted #1 in 2010). Their father Ron worked construction in Las Vegas.

Bryce attended Las Vegas High School — a 4A program in the Las Vegas valley — for his freshman and sophomore years (2007-09). He was already nationally famous by his sophomore year, appearing on the cover of Sports Illustrated in June 2009 at 16 years old as ‘The Chosen One’ — the first time SI had used that headline since LeBron James in 2002.

GED, College of Southern Nevada, MLB Draft

After his sophomore year at Las Vegas High School (2008-09 academic year), Bryce took the unusual step of leaving high school. He took his GED at age 16, enrolled at the College of Southern Nevada (a junior college) in fall 2009, and played one season of college baseball (2010) — the Scenic West Athletic Conference’s MVP award. The College of Southern Nevada used wood bats — making Bryce one of very few amateur players in the modern era with extended wood-bat experience pre-draft.

The Washington Nationals owned the #1 pick of the 2010 MLB Draft (after going 59-103 in 2009). They selected Bryce Harper #1 overall in June 2010 — at 17 years old, the youngest #1 overall pick in modern MLB history. Bryce signed for $9.9 million (then a record signing bonus). He spent two minor-league seasons before debuting with the Nationals on April 28, 2012 — at 19, the youngest position player in MLB at the time.

Las Vegas after Bryce

Bryce Harper signed a 13-year, $330 million contract with the Philadelphia Phillies in March 2019 — at the time, the largest free-agent contract in North American sports history. He’s now in his 7th Phillies season (2019-25), has won 2 NL MVPs (2015 with the Nationals, 2021 with the Phillies), and helped lead the 2022 Phillies to their first World Series since 2009.

Las Vegas High School retired Bryce Harper’s #34 jersey in 2014. The Las Vegas-area youth baseball association renamed its premier 12U league after him in 2018. Bryce’s foundation (the Bryce Harper Family Foundation) funds Las Vegas-area youth baseball facilities. The 2010 #1 overall pick made Bryce only the third Las Vegas-born MLB All-Star (after Greg Maddux and Joey Gallo) — and by far the most-decorated.

Background facts cross-referenced with the Wikipedia article on Bryce Harper and Pro-Football-Reference / Basketball-Reference public records.