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CHAPEL HILL – It didn’t take long for Harrison Ingram to have his welcome-to-UNC-Basketball wow moment.
It happened right after he arrived, and it was unlike anything he’d experienced at Stanford, where he played two seasons before transferring last spring to North Carolina.
“Everything you think it’s like, it’s like that times it by five,” Ingram said about the status that comes with being a Tar Heels basketball player.
“My first day here, we go to Chick-fil-A. The workers knew who we were; that was my first day, I’d just gotten here. Workers knew who we were, they gave us food, asked us for pictures. It was crazy.”
It wasn’t even in Chapel Hill, but nearby Carboro. Still, Ingram said getting noticed when out and about in Palo Alto, CA, or in the metropolis of San Jose was simply a no-go.
“No, not once,” he said, smiling.
Odds are pretty good, as UNC’s season arrives in less than three weeks, people in the Old North State will more easily recognize the 6-foot-7 forward from Dallas in the coming months.
He likely will start for Hubert Davis, as Ingram brings a blended game to the floor that includes three-level scoring (drive, pull-up, and perimeter), passing, and he moves in a manner that allows freedom for teammates.
A McDonald’s All-American in high school, Ingram chose Stanford over UNC, and spent two seasons with the Cardinal. He was the Pac-12 Freshman of the Year averaging 10.5 points 6.7 rebounds, and 3.0 assists per game in the 2021-22 campaign. The numbers were pretty much the same as a sophomore, including shooting 31.9 percent from the perimeter.
Yet, Ingram insists the one thing very different in his game at UNC than was the case at Stanford was his overall shooting; outside and mid-range.
“My shooting has gotten way, way better,” he said. “I’ve been working on it all summer. I worked out with Seth Curry’s trainer Brandon Payne all summer. The shooting is one thing I think people are going to be surprised about.
“And I’m really getting easier shots than I got at Stanford. At Stanford, more of my threes were off the dribble. Now, I’m taking more just catch-and-shoot.”
Davis thinks the world of Ingram’s game, and sees it flourishing in Carolina Blue.
UNC's third-year coach wants players with versatility so they can somewhat play interchangeably, and Ingram possesses those attributes.
“I love having multiple guys out there on the floor that can make plays, that can make plays for themselves and facilitate for their teammates, and Harrison can definitely do that,” Davis said. “He has tremendous size, versatility, he can play a number of different positions. He can handle the ball, he can pass, he can shoot, he can post up, he’s really physical and can defend whether it’s in the post or out on the perimeter.”
As Ingram formally nears the start of his junior campaign, he’s now at a place to which he nearly committed, making a last-minute decision. He hadn’t talked with Roy Williams since turning him down until arriving this past summer. Now, they yuck it up all the time.
Ingram also now has the family he wanted for his college basketball experience. He had an idea what it was like from his recruitment, but everything has exceeded his expectations, except one thing, which Ingram hopes will happen sometime next spring, or perhaps the year after.
Ingram has just one goal, and it’s not a personal statistic, it’s a team one.
“I want to win a national championship,” he said. “That’s my goal, one and only, locked in to that.”
And Ingram thinks he’s gone to the right place to achieve that.
Reason For Optimism
One of the intriguing things about Ingram is that he’s not going to get in the way. If he’s not having a productive night, he won’t try to shoot himself into a zone, and with his other skills that should never slump, Ingram simply won’t take away from the other four players on the floor.
He is a court-vision guy, an aware player, an even-keeled player, and a highly confident one. He should mesh exceptionally well with what will surround him.
2023-24 Projection
Ingram is going to have some low-scoring games because he won’t ever simply look to get his, so some nights he’ll have just a few buckets, but some nights, especially when needed or through a fluid flow of the offense, he will post big scoring numbers. But his game is defined by so much more, and that is how he will help the Tar Heels win games. Don’t expect highlight-reel dunks in traffic, but expect a sound, heady, balanced player who looks to make teammates better.
