From Montana to Massachusetts: 3-star Great Falls athlete Reed Harris pledges to Boston College

In the world of recruiting, one visit can change everything. That certainly was the case for Great Falls High School quarterback Reed Harris.

After an unofficial visit to Boston College a couple of weeks ago, Harris chose the Eagles and announced his commitment to the Boston, Mass., school this week.

"I got to see their spring practice game, spent a weekend there with my family," Harris said. "I was a top priority to them, and they made me feel like it. Plus, Boston College has a great educational program. Even though football doesn’t last forever, I’ll always have that to fall back on."

Harris drew interest from schools all over the West, including from the Pacific-12 Conference, Big 12, Big Ten and the MAC, along with Boise State. He held formal offers from Central Michigan, Colorado State, Harvard and Idaho.

"I’ve been coaching a long time, and I can’t remember a lot of Montana kids going to Boston College," Great Falls coach Mark Samson said. "He always told me he wanted to play at the highest level he could, where he was comfortable."

Harris is coming off a junior season in which he completed 114 of 202 passes for 1,544 yards and 12 touchdowns for the Bison. He also rushed for 537 yards and five more scores on 122 carries for a team that rebounded from an 0-4 start to make the Class 2A state playoffs and finished 6-6 overall.

The 6-foot-4, 200-pounder originally had a few more visits planned for his recruiting journey. Instead, Harris said his early commitment decision allows him to relax and focus on his senior season at Great Falls.

"It was in the back of my mind when I saw him briefly Wednesday that he was kind of thinking that," Samson said. "He’s pretty well-grounded, and a smart kid. I think he thought he’d seen and heard enough, so he made his decision."

Harris’s decision was a shift from his dream growing up.

"I always wanted to play in the Pac-12," Harris said. "The trip was my first time ever on the East Coast. The city was really clean. It wasn’t a stereotypical Gotham kind of place. And I just felt like I fit in. It was just one of those random things."

Harris said his Boston College recruitment began almost out of the blue.

"It was interesting how they found me out here in the middle of nowhere," Harris said. "They told me they were doing some research, and my name popped up."

From that humble start, Harris now will be an Eagle.