SNY.tv

The 6-foot-8, 195-pound St. Benedict's Prep senior forward made the announcement Friday in the SNY.tv studio.

"I just had a great relationship with the coaches," he said. "I liked the campus. I felt I would fit real well with the team and their style of play and I just thought that everything in the school was what I was looking for, and I thought it was the best fit."

The No. 27 small forward in the class of 2011 according to Rivals, Harris chose N.C. State over Providence and Iowa. He also considered St. John's earlier in the process.

Harris joins 6-10 Nigerian big man Joseph Uchebo in N.C. State's 2011 recruiting class.

New York recruiting expert Tom Konchalski said Harris has vast potential but needs to continue to grow stronger and improve his competitive edge.

"He's a guy who grows before your very eyes," he said. He's taller at the end of the fourth quarter than he was at the beginning of the first quarter. He has a super-active pituitary gland. He's going to be 6-10, he might be 6-10 by the end of the season.

"He's made enormous progress in the last year in terms of competing. He always had that Tayshaun Prince 3-pointer off the catch. He shoots deep 3's. He could always cover the court well.

"He needs to get a lot stronger, the way Tobias needed to get a lot stronger. He hasn't done the work on his body to this point that Tobias had done on his body from his sophomore year to his senior year, but he has enormous potential. Since the end of last season, he's made exponential strides in terms of just competing and really playing hard."

Tobias Harris, a freshman at Tennessee and Tyler's older brother, bulked up before going to college, and Tyler wants to do the same.

"I definitely want to get a lot stronger and that's why I came to St. Benedict's because I knew I had to keep on working hard because we're going to have a tough schedule," said Harris, who transferred to the Newark school before this season.

Having played against his older brother, Tyler learned the ropes from a young age.

"He would get on me a lot and scream at me, but it's only for the best," he said. "It was a great opportunity for me."