Bryan Harper defends transfer

The theories are sure to be floated about.

Bryan Harper could not hack it.

Bryan Harper is running home to Mom and Dad.

And the one that hurts the most: Bryan Harper is spurning Cal State Northridge to ride his higher-profile little brother's coattails at the College of Southern Nevada.

Higher profile? Perhaps that's an understatement. Bryan's younger brother Bryce, the 16-year-old wunderkind labeled "the LeBron James of baseball" by Sports Illustrated, is forgoing his final two years at Las Vegas High School to enroll at the junior college before probably declaring for next year's draft.

But the real story is one of loyalty to family over team. Young Bryan was beckoned back to Las Vegas because of father Ron's bad back, a body part that's especially important for a steelworker. Work has been hard -- when he can get it, when he is not injured -- and the family, Bryan said, simply could not afford to keep Bryan in Southern California.

So forget the theories; Harper wanted to stay at Northridge but needed to return home.

"I appreciate everything they did for me," Harper said. "There are no regrets at all. The coaches were great; they helped me tremendously. I'm only better for having been there.

"I'm excited to go back, but I'm depressed to be leaving."

He is excited to join a national powerhouse junior college program that just added arguably the best baseball prospect in decades, a player who most scouts agree is a can't-miss prospect. That the player happens to be Bryan's brother made the decision more bearable.

Bryan Harper's success will depend largely on a continued refinement of his pitching delivery, which was overhauled by the Northridge coaching staff throughout the season. Harper worked heavily on his off-speed command, and the growing pains were evident: An 0-4 record and a 6.88 ERA in his only season with the Matadors.

At CSN, Bryan can rekindle the pitcher-catcher relationship that the Harpers formed in 2007-08, their lone season together in high school, when Bryan was a senior leader and Bryce was a freshman phenom.

"It's going to be great," Bryce Harper said. "I'm so excited to play with him again. I can't wait to catch him again. I believe I can pick his game up and everyone around us. We have 24 returning freshmen.

"Hopefully things pick up the same way they were back then."

In that one season together, the Harpers dominated opponents, leading Las Vegas High to a 31-8 record.

Then Bryan left for Northridge, where he learned that things weren't quite as easy without Bryce's bat and mitt and mom Sheri's cooking.

"I grew up so much quicker because I didn't have my parents there; no one cooked for me or cleaned up for me," Harper said. "Living in that apartment really helped me grow up. I had to make sure I was up for school. I had to do it all. There were guys on the team who could go home because they lived 30 minutes away. I was five hours away."

Now he will return, though he is not moving back home. Harper will share an apartment with best friend, high school teammate and now CSN teammate Marvin Campbell.

''Going away from home was a great thing, and I really did love it -- I don't think I could move back in," Harper said. "The month we had off in December was like hell. It was great to get home and see the family, but Dad and Mom breathing down my back just wasn't working for me.

"I've been living on my own for a year. I'm grown up now. I'm not little Bryan."

He has not been little Bryan for a while. No, the 6-foot-4-inch Harper has towered over teammates, opponents, friends, even his little brother.

But now, it seems, with the whole baseball world swooning whenever Bryce swings a bat, Harper is in his younger brother's shadow.

"Everybody knows that I'm the older brother; it's going to affect me no matter what I do," Harper said. "Everyone is saying, 'He's only going because he wants to play with his bro.' I just have to go out and do what I can do to get better. It's also my career. My career is on the line, too. I have to perform. I can't just live on his coattails. I have ambitions. I have things I want to do."