“It’s not that I flat-out couldn’t read. I definitely could,” A’ja Wilson once wrote in a deeply personal essay for The Players’ Tribune. The two-time WNBA MVP shared how, as a kid, she dreaded reading aloud in class—not because she didn’t try, but because of something she couldn’t control: dyslexia. “But I didn’t always comprehend what I was reading … I’d get so mixed up,” she explained, pulling back the curtain on a struggle that so many silently battle.

Fast forward to 2025, and the Las Vegas Aces just welcomed another young woman who knows that challenge all too well. With the No. 35 pick in this year’s WNBA Draft, the Aces selected Harmoni Turner, a dynamic guard out of Harvard. She became just the second player in school history to be drafted straight from Harvard without transferring—no easy feat. 

Appearing recently on Courtside with Rachel, Turner beamed as she talked about the moment her name was called on draft night. But the conversation quickly went deeper when she was asked about her toughest class at Harvard. She took a pause, then cracked a smile before landing on an answer: “Linguistics.” Then, just as casually, she added, “I’m also, like, dyslexic.” What was that journey like? 

Harmoni Turner carried on with a different perspective

“Harvard does a really great job of challenging you,” Harmoni Turner admitted—but for her, the challenge went beyond just keeping up with Ivy League academics or balancing basketball with late-night study sessions. The real test came from something invisible: dyslexia.

Turner didn’t know at first why she was struggling. She started noticing the signs—tripping over certain words, stumbling while reading. So eventually, she got tested. But that didn’t make the road ahead any easier. Especially not at Harvard.

In her first year, she unknowingly signed up for Linguistics, arguably one of the worst classes for someone navigating dyslexia. “I shouldn’t have,” she said, half-laughing. “That’s probably a class you take junior or senior year. But I didn’t know any better. And I’m also, like, dyslexic. It was hard for me to comprehend a lot of it.” The subject was fascinating—but brutal. “The part that I did understand? That wasn’t much,” she admitted.

But Turner doesn’t make a big deal out of it. “It’s just another attribute. I try to persevere through it and not let it define me,” she adds. Rightfully so.

Turner double majored in African and African American studies and sociology. She would also intern as a professor assistant at the Harvard Business school in the summer of 2022, and for the one after that, she tended to her basketball interests– interning for Spurs. The Aces newbie agrees to have received great many opportunities and a lesson to never compare herself to others. It is a program she grew into, going from “Harvard was the last thing I was thinking,” to,  “There’s no amount of money [ to transfer] that i’d agree to leave Harvard.” 

Turner graduates this Spring, May 29th, and safe to say, she is coming out stronger.

The Aces’ rookie’s historic rise at Harvard

This year, the senior guard became the first Ivy League player ever to win the prestigious Becky Hammon Mid-Major Player of the Year award, cementing her place at the top of the mountain. The honor, presented by Her Hoop Stats, is no small feat. It goes to the best player in the country from a mid-major program—and this year, there was no debate. It was Turner. All Turner.

But the award didn’t come out of nowhere. She averaged 22.5 points, 5.4 rebounds, 3.4 assists, and 2.8 steals per game—numbers that only scratch the surface of what she meant to Harvard’s best regular season in program history. But that wasn’t all of it. 

Two months before the season tipped off, Turner already had gold draped around her neck. She led Team USA to victory in the FIBA 3×3 U23 World Cup, dropping 40 points in seven games—second-best in the entire tournament. That was just the prelude.

Back in a Crimson jersey, she scorched nets and shredded defenses —stepbacks, floaters, steals that led to fast-break buckets. Her most iconic moment? Maybe it was the 41-point explosion against Boston College that shattered Harvard’s single-game scoring record. Or maybe it was what came next. Four months later, in the pressure-cooker of the Ivy League Tournament semifinal, Turner lit it up again—this time for 44 points against powerhouse Princeton.

“She’s paving the way,” head coach Carrie Moore said on senior night. “The crown she wears is heavy, so I’m really proud of her.”

Heavy is the crown, yes—but Turner carried it with grace, grit, and fire. She credits her parents, especially her father, for seeing what she couldn’t at the time—and for asking the right question, at just the right moment. And now, she is all geared up for her first W.