Josh Christopher will wear James Harden’s retired No. 13 jersey for ASU

May 7, 2020, 9:32 AM

It looks like Arizona State signee Josh Christopher got the all-clear to keep his jersey number when he steps onto the college court for the first time.

The No. 10 prospect in his class, according to 247 Sports’ composite, Christopher will suit up in the No. 13 uniform despite the number having been retired in 2015. That’s because James Harden, whose jersey of the same number sits in the Desert Financial Arena rafters, gave Christopher his blessing.

Got the Blessing @JHarden13 🤝 https://t.co/5rljEibr6Q

— Josh(ua) Christopher (@Jaygup23) May 7, 2020

Before Christopher verbally committed to Arizona State in April, Harden was the highest-ranked player to commit to ASU’s basketball program. He was the 14th-ranked player in the 2007 class.

Christopher, a shooting guard out of Lakewood, Calif., averaged 23.0 points, 7.7 rebounds and 3.8 assists to go with 3.0 steals per game in his career at Mayfair High School.

He put up 29.4 points, 11.2 rebounds and 4.4 assists per game as senior.

When he announced his intent to attend ASU, Christopher earned a retweet from Harden, a sign that the Sun Devil legend would be comfortable allowing one potential star to wear his number that was retired in 2015.

On Wednesday, that was made official.