Photo courtesy of the Wenatchee (Wash.) World

Joe Harris, a 6-foot-5 guard out of Chelan (Wash.) High, averaged 25.7 points and 8.5 rebounds per game last season as a junior.

Based on the attention he received from Washington State at his 2009 state tournament, Chelan (Wash.) guard Joe Harris might have pictured himself playing for then-Cougars men's basketball coach Tony Bennett.

Harris will be playing for Bennett, but it won't be in the Great Northwest.

Harris, who scored 25.7 points per game as a junior, is the second member of Bennett's first recruiting class at Virginia.

The Chelan coach for the past 17 years is Harris' father, also named Joe, who wasn't sure if Bennett would continue to recruit his son after he got the Virginia job.

"Any time you change programs, there's a feeling-out progress," coach Harris said. "We weren't sure if we'd see [Bennett] again or not."

That question was answered when Virginia invited Harris to its elite camp. The Cavaliers followed the 6-foot-5 Harris through his AAU season, when he played for Friends of Hoop, a team based in Seattle.

The Harrises, father and son, made a 5¹₂-hour round trip to Seattle for the past two years, sometimes as many as three times a week, to make sure that they received the best possible competition and exposure.

"Playing in a small school, sometimes you get labeled as a small-school kid," Harris' father said. "That's one of the pluses you get nowadays with the AAU programs. They get you to the bigger tournaments."

Harris was the state player of the year in his classification and also made first-team all-state on The Seattle Times team picked for all classifications.

He plays point guard for Chelan but is described by his father as a "combo" guard who can shoot from the outside (59-of-143 on 3-pointers) or drive to the basket (149-of-194 from the free-throw line). He also grabbed 8.5 rebounds per game.

"I wouldn't say he's extremely quick," the older Harris said. "I think he's deceptively quick because he's so long. I think that's an area that he needs to work on, but he realizes that. Any time you go to a higher level, guys are recruiting you because they feel you can play."

The younger Harris had offers from UVa, Washington State, Brigham Young, Portland, San Diego and Pacific. Washington also had stepped up its interest of late.

Bennett earlier had taken a commitment from 6-8 Will Regan from Buffalo, N.Y.