Indiana Basketball's Josh Harris Details Injury-Ravaged Season: 'It's Been Tough'

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. — Smile wide and right foot free of the boot that covered it for several weeks to begin the season, Indiana basketball sophomore forward Josh Harris showed no signs of perhaps the most challenging campaign he's ever faced.

Harris, who transferred to Indiana from the University of North Florida last April, hasn't played this season due to a lower-body injury suffered during a practice in late September. He's started participating in pre-game shootarounds but has remained inactive on the availability report.

The 6-foot-8, 225-pound Harris, who appeared on the Inside IU Basketball radio show with host Don Fischer on Monday night, said it's the first time he's been seriously injured, but the Hoosiers' medical staff — spearheaded by athletic trainer Andrew Vereen and head strength and conditioning coach Ryan Horn — has eased his recovery process.

"It's been tough," Harris said. "But I mean, Vereen's a great trainer. Ryan, my PT, is a great guy. So, they've helped me get through it. So, pretty good, actually."

There remains no definitive date or timeline for Harris to return to action. When healthy, Harris served as Indiana's third big man behind senior forwards Sam Alexis and Reed Bailey.

Harris, an All-Atlantic Sun Freshman Team member last year at North Florida, played sparingly during the Hoosiers' three-game August exhibition series in Puerto Rico. He was the last scholarship player off the bench in Indiana's first two games and didn't appear in the final contest.

Yet in limited minutes, Harris impressed. The Pembroke Pines, Fla., native averaged 6.3 points and 3.7 rebounds per game while going 9-for-14 shooting from the field in Puerto Rico.

Instead of turning the exhibition slate into a springboard for more minutes, Harris' lower-body injury has forced him to the bench, where he's watched Alexis and Bailey rotate in for one another over the past four months.

Harris, however, hasn't been mindlessly watching. He's gleaned lessons from seeing how the two seniors approach and operate day-to-day activities both on and off the floor.

"I learned a lot from Sam and Reed," Harris said. "Watching what they do in the game and practice, see how they handle stuff. So, they really helped me learn."

Harris describes himself as something of a basketball junkie, one who hasn't grown tired of watching others play the game he loves. He said he enjoys watching basketball in his free time and wants to keep learning, keep growing, while he's been forced into a season of patience and rehabilitation.

And Harris hopes he'll get to watch his Hoosier teammates play late into the spring.

“Make a deep run in the tournament," Harris said when he was asked about his goals, "and keep getting healthy."

Harris' long-term vision includes a career in basketball. He wants to play as many years as possible, and if he officially redshirts this season, he'll enter the 2026-27 campaign with three years of eligibility remaining.

Whether Harris stays at Indiana or enters the transfer portal after the season remains to be seen. Whether he plays a minute this season remains a mystery, too. But if nothing else, Harris appeared jovial Monday night — and committed to finding the floor someway, somehow, somewhere next season.