He played college basketball for the UCLA Bruins under Coach John Wooden, winning three straight national championships from 1969 through 1971.

Playing basketball at University High in West Los Angeles, Ecker was named to the All-Western League Second Team in 1965.

[7][8][9] He is one of 14 players who won three National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) titles at UCLA under Coach John Wooden.

[16] With the graduation of three-year starting center Lew Alcindor (known later as Kareem Abdul-Jabbar), Ecker was promoted to second-string as starter Steve Patterson's backup.

[18] He had entered the game for a jump ball with 16 seconds left after Sidney Wicks had fouled out, and controlled the tip before making the winning shot.

He interrogated Ecker, Hill, and Terry Schofield, advising them to transfer from UCLA if they agreed with Seibert, but all three players insisted that they wished to stay.

The team's top free throw shooter at 88 percent, he made the shots in place of an injured Schofield.