By Pat Harty

IOWA CITY, Iowa – After deciding to play basketball for the University of Iowa, Ethan Harris had some explaining to do in his home state of Washington.

The 6-foot-8 guard/forward from Camas, Washington had picked Iowa over his other two finalists, Gonzaga and Washington, and his decision to be Hawkeye, and to attend college halfway across the country, didn’t make sense to some.

But those questioning his decision didn’t know what Harris already knew about Iowa head coach Ben McCollum.

“At first, yeah, I will wholeheartedly admit that a lot of people, even in my local gym were like, Iowa? They were very confused about it,” Harris said Monday at Iowa’ annual media day event. “Of course, they weren’t as engulfed in basketball as I was, so they didn’t really understand the background of coach McCollum.

“All they had heard was Iowa and they hadn’t seen Iowa win a lot. So they were very confused about that. But once we made the tournament run, it was pretty evident I made the right decision.”

Harris was referring to Iowa’s unexpected run to the NCAA Tournament Elite Eight in McCollum’s first season as head coach this past March.

Iowa had failed to make the NCAA Tournament in each of the previous two seasons before McCollum was hired, and also hadn’t advanced to the Elite Eight since 1987.

Harris committed to Iowa on Sept. 13, 2025, so McCollum hadn’t even coached the Hawkeyes in a game yet.

So it was easy to see why some of the people in Harris’ hometown in southwest Washington were confused by his decision to be a Hawkeye, especially since he had an offer from Gonzaga, which is one of the elite programs on the West Coast, and from Washington, which is the home-state school and also a member of the Big Ten Conference.

“After I committed to the University of Iowa, even on my own basketball team, there was big Gonzaga fans, big Washington fans and they were pretty bummed out,” Harris said. “But at the end of the day, it’s my decision and they all respected that and they were all happy to see me choose where I wanted to go.”

McCollum led Northwest Missouri State to four Division II national titles as head coach, and he also led Drake to a 31-4 record in his only season as head coach in the 2024-25 season.

McCollum’s success at multiple levels stood out to Harris, and it’s partly why Harris committed to Iowa before McCollum had even coached the Hawkeyes in a game.

Harris also was impressed with Iowa’s assistant coaches, and especially Bryson Williams, and with how he would fit into McCollum’s system.

“You talk with coach McCollum and you talk with this coaching staff and the energy that Bryson gives off, you could tell not only by their past experiences, you see wining and winning translates at all levels,” Harris said. “The winning that they had in the past, the way that they showed that they were going to use me, and ultimately, it just came down to the coaching staff.”

Harris said his parents were always supportive of his decision to be a Hawkeye, even with the distance from home.

“It’s not about where it is, because at the end of the day, the way I thought about it was Iowa from Washington was one flight away,” Harris said. “It is a pretty expensive and pretty long flight, which my parents weren’t very happy about.

“But at the end of the day, it’s one flight. So if they want to come here, it’s full open arms.”

Harris said his mother will be in Iowa City for Christmas, while his younger bother plans to be in Iowa City for Harris’ birthday in November.

Harris also has an older sister who plays for Montana State, which faces Iowa on Nov. 19 at Carver-Hawkeye Arena.

Harris will be out of town for part of his sister’s time Iowa City with the Iowa men facing Xavier on Nov. 20 in Cincinnati, Ohio. But he looks forward to whatever time they will get to spend together.

“It’s a true blessing that she even gets to come here,” Harris said. “I think I’ll see her for maybe one night and that’s going to be pretty special for me just to show her around Iowa, and show her around this whole place. It’s going to be pretty cool.”

McCollum has described Harris as the “perfect fit” for the Iowa program, on and off the program.

“Ethan is the definition of the type of player we are looking for to build the Hawkeye culture,” said McCollum. “He’s super competitive, has great versatility, can play a guard position and go inside if need be.  We’re excited about the future with Ethan.”

Harris is listed as a guard on the Iowa roster, but with his height and versatility, he could also play small forward.

And while his decision to be a Hawkeye might have surprised some in his hometown, Harris has since learned that there are Hawkeye fans even where he grew up.

“Even through the process as I was committed, going into my local gym I got a lot of “go Hawks” from people I had never even met before,” Harris said.

Asked if he converted them to Iowa fans, Harris said:

“I wouldn’t even say that. I’d say there were a lot of (Iowa) fans already out there; people in the area that were already Hawkeye fans. It was pretty neat to see that after I committed.”

Harris enjoyed watching the Iowa football team defeat Washington 41-24 this past Friday in Seattle.

He wasn’t there in person to see it, but he saw on television all the Iowa fans that attended the game.

“To see how many Iowa fans showed up to that is pretty special,” Harris said. “That’s just a testimony to this community, to the University of Iowa and everything we’ve done so far.”

Harris never had been to the state of Iowa before taking his recruiting trip.

“Before coming here, all you hear about is the stereotypes of Iowa, which is corn,” Harris said. “I’ve had some amazing corn, so I will not hate on that whatsoever.

“But what I do think in coming here is what should be taken note is the people here and the community, I think the community’s support at some of these football games is absolutely phenomenal.”

Iowa’s success last season has helped to energize the fan base, while also improving ticket sales, which was a problem prior to McCollum’s arrival.

“I haven’t actually seen a basketball game in Carver yet,” Harris said “Even while I was committed, we were planning on coming out, but it just never worked out.”

Iowa will host Saint Louis in a closed scrimmage on Friday at Carver-Hawkeye Arena in what will be a special occasion for Harris.

“So coming up this Friday, our scrimmage will be the first time that I will ever see a basketball game in Carver,” Harris said. “And I’m incredibly excited.”