Harris came to Robert Morris (RMU) in 1980 after a high school career at Valley High School in his native New Kensington, Pennsylvania. He led the school to the 1979 Pennsylvania state championship.[2] At Robert Morris, Harris teamed with backcourt mate Forest Grant to lead the Colonials from a 3–17 record in their freshman years to back-to back NCAA tournament appearances the next two seasons.[3][4] Harris, a defensive standout, unofficially led the nation in steals in his junior and senior seasons (the NCAA began officially recording the statistic two years later).[2] Harris was the Most Valuable Player of the 1984 ECAC Metro tournament (now the Northeast Conference) and in his senior season was named first-team all-conference and co-player of the year with Robert Jackson of St. Francis and Carey Scurry of Long Island. He left RMU as the school's all-time leader in points and steals (although his scoring mark was eclipsed ten years later).[2] He an inaugural member of the Robert Morris Ring of Honor.
