Iowa State's RB room bolstered by Pac-12 transfer Harris
Iowa State secured its first transfer portal addition of the offseason on Sunday afternoon when Stanford running back transfer Arlen Harris announced his intentions on social media.
The St. Louis (Mo.) area native and former standout at St. Peters Lutheran of St. Charles spent just one season in the Pac-12 and will move back to the Midwest following a head coaching change at Stanford.
The 5-foot-11, 195-pound freshman said he heard from the Cyclones almost immediately after announcing his plans to move on. That relationship strengthened in the days leading up to his decision.
“From the time I entered the portal, kind of that short window that opened up, a couple of schools hit me up and said they were interested,” said Harris, who took an official visit to ISU this weekend. “But I was entered in at a weird time. My school thought that I could be in the portal, but I couldn’t, so those schools hit me up while I was legally in there. After that, I found out that I wasn’t allowed. It was kind of like a silence period, as it should be.
“After that, we followed back up when I got home. I talked to Coach (Nate) Scheelhaase and kind of just furthered that relationship now that I was in the portal. I watched some games and how they played. We’ve kept developing that relationship. They recruited me out of high school, as well.”
Harris played in just one game for the Cardinal this season and tallied one yard on two carries.
A borderline four-star prospect out of high school, Harris rushed for 5,309 yards and 11 touchdowns over the course of his career, both school records.
He also had Power-5 offers from Arkansas, Boston College, Florida, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kansas State, Michigan, Michigan State, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, Penn State, Purdue, and Vanderbilt.
As a high school prospect growing up in the Midwest, Harris said he watched former ISU superstars Breece Hall and David Montgomery blossom into NFL prospects in Ames.
“That definitely has an impact,” he said. “Being a running back, all you want is to be great, be set apart, and chase greatness. For this program, they have that line of great backs. They want me to be the next one and contribute to that. It’s a blessing and very humbling. It’s an opportunity that you can’t look past.”
Harris said he sees a little bit of those two former Cyclones in his game.
“I’d say just my desperation and desire to be a complete back,” he said. “The game has changed. There are no one-trick ponies anymore. You look at Breece Hall, (David) Montgomery, and the different backs that have come through Iowa State, there’s that explosiveness, desire, ferociousness, and strength. It’s something that I think I can contribute to and work on and work toward. That’s what gets me excited.”
The Cyclones needed one transfer portal running back after losing one in sophomore Deon Silas. In addition to Harris, the 2023 pipeline will be filled out with fifth-year senior Jirehl Brock, redshirt sophomore Eli Sanders, sophomore Cartevious Norton, and 2023 freshman signee Carson Hansen.
