For Ethan Harris, Iowa has already meant a lot of new miles, new people and a new basketball life. This week, it also brings a rare chance to see a familiar face.
Harris’ sister, Addison, plays at Montana State and earned all-Big Sky Conference honors. Her Bobcats are scheduled to face the nationally ranked Hawkeyes in Iowa City on Thursday, Nov.
- Iowa, meanwhile, plays at Cincinnati against Xavier the following night, meaning the siblings will only have a small window to catch up while they’re both in the area.
That reunion comes with a bit of irony: Harris, who grew up in Camas, Wash., had never been to Iowa before his official visit last year.
“Before coming here, all you hear about is the stereotypes of Iowa. That’s corn,” Harris said at Iowa’s recent men’s basketball media day.
“And I’ve had some amazing corn, so I will not hate on that whatsoever. But what I do think in coming here … is the (great) people here and the community.”
Harris was one of the bigger recruiting gets in the Hawkeyes’ class. The 6-foot-9 guard was a four-star prospect and a top-75 national player, and his final group of schools included Iowa, Washington and Gonzaga. At Camas High School last season, he put up 18.8 points, 8.1 rebounds and three assists per game.
Plenty of people back home were hoping he’d stay closer to the West Coast. Camas is about 175 miles from Seattle and only about 30 miles from Portland, Ore., and Harris said the reaction around him was mixed when he picked Iowa.
“After I committed to the University of Iowa, even on my own basketball team, there were 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.
It’s not about where it is, because at the end of the day, the way I thought about it was Iowa to Washington is one flight away. It’s a pretty expensive and long flight, which my parents weren’t very happy about.
But at the end of the day, it’s one flight.”
So far, Harris says the move has been worth it. He said he has settled into the pace and physical demands of Ben McCollum’s program, including the heavy work during the summer, and he knows the quickest path to minutes in this system.
“It’s got to be defense,” he said. “When you come into a Big Ten program, that’s what they demand of you.
We’re going to go out and play some of the best, most athletic basketball players on the face of the earth. And when you do that, you’ve got to be able to guard, or you’re not going to play.”
McCollum came away encouraged by what he saw from Harris in Iowa’s private scrimmage earlier this month against Texas Tech, and the Hawkeyes also scrimmaged Saint Louis recently. The coach believes Harris brings a wide range of skills, which can make it tricky to pin down exactly how he’ll be used right away.
“It takes a little while for him in particular to figure it out, because he has so much that he can do,” McCollum said at media day. “He's more of a guard where he can pass and come off ball screens.
He can set ball screens, he can shoot. He's got a lot going on, so it makes it difficult initially to kind of figure out ‘OK, what can I be great at?’
He's gotten better and better. And then his personality is through the roof.
He's fiery, and we love that about him.”
Harris’ own approach is simple: keep working and let the rest sort itself out.
“Honestly, my idea with that is just do the best I can and let everything else figure itself out,” Harris said. “That’s all I can do. I can only control me, and I’m going to let everything else pan itself out.”
Iowa opens its exhibition schedule Tuesday night against Illinois Springfield at Xtream Arena in Coralville. The game is set for 6:35 p.m. and will be televised on Big Ten-Plus with a Hawkeye Radio Network broadcast.
The Hawkeyes’ 2026-27 season includes a home opener against Indiana on Dec. 7, a trip to Purdue to start Big Ten play on Dec. 1 and nonconference games against Virginia Tech in Sioux City, Creighton in Des Moines, Iowa State and Alabama in Des Moines. Iowa also lists Lipscomb in the regular season opener on Nov. 3 and the Big Ten tournament in Indianapolis from March 9-14.
The Hawkeyes enter the year with three returning starters in Cooper Koch, Cam Manyawu and Kael Combs, along with returners Tate Sage, Isaia Howard, Trevin Jirak and Joey Matteoni. Newcomers include Trey Thompson, Ty’reek Coleman, Harris, Andrew McKeever, Jaidyn Coon and Peyton McCollum, who is redshirting.
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