Versatile, energetic transfer Ingram says Heels ‘are coming’

R.L. Bynum,

By R.L. Bynum

CHAPEL HILL — It will quickly become evident to Carolina fans that Harrison Ingram is a versatile player who can help the Tar Heels in many ways.

If you don’t believe it, just ask him.

“The best part of my game is my versatility,” said the 6–7, 235-pound junior transfer from Stanford after starting UNC’s 117–54 exhibition victory Friday over Division II St. Augustine’s.

You might suggest that Ingram fills the stretch-four role of Brady Manek for UNC’s Four Four team two seasons ago. He can fill that role, but his game will give the Tar Heels much more.

“I think it’s doing a bit little everything,” said Ingram, who has quickly put into practice the Carolina tradition of pointing to the passer to thank him. “I’ll be in a stretch-four role. I’ll be in a defensive role. I’ll be in a playmaking role. I’ll be in a scoring role, a posting-up role.”

Watching him answer reporters’ questions after the game, you could tell he’s full of energy and excited about playing at Carolina. The same energy will make him a productive part of how UNC becomes a successful team.

“This is like a dream come true,” said Ingram, a Dallas product who was thrilled to have his parents in the Smith Center on Friday. “Playing North Carolina basketball? You can’t get higher than that.”

Ingram, the 2022 Pac-12 Freshman of the Year and a former McDonald’s All-American, is on the 20-player watch list for the Julius Erving Award given to the country’s top small forward. He was ESPN’s No. 22-ranked player in the high school Class of 2021.

Ingram says that the entire team’s intensity on Friday night was no surprise because every player shows their passion daily in practice. He calls the competitiveness “crazy,” suggesting you can only appreciate it if you were to come out and watch it.

“We get into it,” Ingram said. “We have a lot of people who like to talk — like me — I like to talk a lot. Elliot [Cadeau], Zayden [High], Armando [Bacot], we’re always on different teams. So, every day, we’re getting into it. We never cross the line, but we get right up to that line. Every day, if you don’t show up, you’re gonna get killed.”

In the exhibition, Ingram saw that intensity channeled into on the ball and off the ball on defense, with excellent ball movement and a lot of sharing the ball on offense.

“Y’all haven’t seen the half of it,” said Ingram, who scored a career-high 24 points last season on Nov. 24 against Ole Miss. “We didn’t run half of our plays out there. It’s coming. We’re coming. We’re coming for everybody, I promise.”

His numbers during the exhibition win hint the areas he can help: 16 points, 6 of 11 from the floor, with nine rebounds, three assists and three blocks in only 25 minutes. Ingram scored a pair of 3-pointers and hit a career-high of three seven times at Stanford.

“I try to be perfect. I can’t tell you that on camera,” said Ingram, who was, of course, on camera in the below embedded video.

Ingram’s interview starts at 4:37 in the above video.

Ingram suggested that the playbook fits his diverse skill set.

“Of all the plays we have, I have touches in the paint, I have touches outside, I’m setting the screen, I’m using the screen, I’m decoy,” Ingram said.

Just don’t ask him what his best position might be. He doesn’t have an answer.

“You put me on the court, I’ll make it work,” Ingram said. “If you want me to post up, you want me to guard the best player? On this team, I don’t have to do as much on the offensive end, so I can really show my defensive ability. I feel like I was showing that [Friday]. Just showing people that I can guard for full court, and I pick up one through five, and I can lock people down.”

In two seasons at Stanford, he averaged 14.2 points, shot 39.8% from the floor, 31.6% from 3-point range and averaged 8.5 rebounds and 4.6 assists per game.

“I feel like my shooting has been under the radar,” Ingram said. “I know that, at Stanford, the shots I would shoot were a lot tougher than shots I’m getting here. I’m getting good catch-and-shoot 3s from  good playmakers like Elliot and RJ [Davis]. I’m getting easier shots.”

Playing in the system Coach Hubert Davis has gone to this season, Ingram says he expects his 3-point shooting percentage to increase. It helps that opposing teams will pay so much attention to fifth-year center Armando Bacot.

“He’s a monster,” Ingram said. “Going inside, they double him; I get wide-open shots, wide-open touch shots, wide-open 3s in the corner. Everything just becomes so much easier.”

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He thinks spacing and ball movement will make perimeter shooting easier for the entire team. Ingram wasn’t surprised that the Tar Heels made eight of their first 10 3-point attempts against St. Augustine’s.

“Those are all easy shots for us,” Ingram said. “It’s so much easier to shoot when someone passes you than to dribble.”

Ingram said he is enjoying the faster tempo Carolina is revving up this season.

“We want teams to know when they see that North Carolina game on the schedule, and they see our bus, and they see our plane when we get there, they know they have to run,” Ingram said.

“We’re trying to run, [when a] team scores, we’re getting out quick, we’re pushing it,” Ingram said. “We’re all trying to turn everything into a primary break and Coach tells us, if we see we see an advantage, take it. Shoot open shots. Everyone has confidence.

And the Carolina team is quickly becoming confident that Ingram will be a major factor in the Tar Heels rebounding from last season’s frustrations.

DateMonth/dayTimeOpponent/event
(current ranks)		TV/
record
October
24FridayL, 78–76vs. No. 9 BYU in SLCExhib.
29WednesdayW, 95–53vs. Winston-Salem St.Exhib.
November
3MondayW, 94–54vs. Central Arkansas1–0
7FridayW, 87–74vs. No. 22 Kansas2–0
11TuesdayW, 89–74vs. Radford3–0
14FridayW, 97–53vs. N.C. Central4–0
18TuesdayW, 73–61vs. Navy5–0
Fort Myers Tip-Off
25TuesdayW, 85–70vs. St. Bonaventure6–0
27ThursdayL, 74–58vs. No. 12 Michigan State6–1
DecemberACC/SEC
Men’s Challenge
2TuesdayW, 67–64at Kentucky7–1
—————————
7SundayW, 81–61vs. Georgetown8–1
13SaturdayW, 80–62vs. USC Upstate9–1
16TuesdayW, 77–58vs. ETSU10–1
CBS Sports Classic
in Atlanta
20SaturdayW, 71–70vs. Ohio State11–1
—————————
22MondayW, 99–51vs. East Carolina12–1
30TuesdayW, 79–66vs. Florida State13–1,
1–0 ACC
January
3SaturdayL, 97–83at No. 24 SMU13–2, 1–1
10SaturdayW, 87–84vs. Wake Forest14–2, 2–1
14Wednesday9 p.m.at StanfordACCN
17Saturday4 p.m.at CaliforniaACCN
21Wednesday7 p.m.vs. Notre DameESPN2
24Saturday2 p.m.at No. 23 VirginiaESPN
31Saturday2 p.m.at Georgia TechACCN
February
2Monday7 p.m.vs. SyracuseESPN
7Saturday6:30vs. No. 6 DukeESPN
10Tuesday7 p.m.at MiamiESPN or
ESPN2
14Saturday2 p.m.vs. PittsburghESPN
17Tuesday7 p.m.at N.C. StateESPN or
ESPN2
21Saturday1 p.m.at SyracuseABC
23Monday7 p.m.vs. No. 20 LouisvilleESPN
28Saturday6:30 or 8:30vs. Virginia TechESPN or
ESPN2
March
3Tuesday7 p.m.vs. ClemsonESPN or
ESPN2
7Saturday6:30at No. 6 DukeESPN
10–14Tues.-Sat.ACC
tournament		Spectrum Center,
Charlotte
No.ClassPlayerPos.HgtWgt
8FreshmanCaleb Wilson (5 star)46–10215
5FreshmanIsaiah Denis (4 star)CG6–4180
3FreshmanDerek Dixon (4 star)CG6–5200
40SophomoreIvan Matlekovic57–0255
11SophomoreJonathan PowellG6–6190
2SophomoreJames Brown 56–10240
1SophomoreZayden High46–10230
44JuniorLuca Bogavac
(BO-guh-VAHTS)		W6–6215
4JuniorJaydon Young26–4200
13RS juniorHenri Veesaar
(VEH-sar)		57–0225
0JuniorKyan Evans16–2175
15JuniorJarin Stevenson46–10215
7SeniorSeth Trimble26–3200
Walk-ons
25SophomoreJohn Holbrook46–8230
32JuniorEvan Smith26–1195
6RS seniorElijah Davis26–3205

Former UNC players who transferred

PlayerClass next seasonPos.HgtWgtNext school
Elliot CadeauJuniorPG6–1180Michigan
Jalen WashingtonSeniorC6–10235Vanderbilt
Ian JacksonSophomoreG6–4190St. John’s
Cade TysonSeniorF6–7200Minnesota
Ven-Allen LubinSeniorC6–8230N.C. State
DateMonth/dayTimeOpponent/event
(current ranks)		TV/
record
October
24FridayL, 78–76vs. No. 9 BYU in SLCExhib.
29WednesdayW, 95–53vs. Winston-Salem St.Exhib.
November
3MondayW, 94–54vs. Central Arkansas1–0
7FridayW, 87–74vs. No. 22 Kansas2–0
11TuesdayW, 89–74vs. Radford3–0
14FridayW, 97–53vs. N.C. Central4–0
18TuesdayW, 73–61vs. Navy5–0
Fort Myers Tip-Off
25TuesdayW, 85–70vs. St. Bonaventure6–0
27ThursdayL, 74–58vs. No. 12 Michigan State6–1
DecemberACC/SEC
Men’s Challenge
2TuesdayW, 67–64at Kentucky7–1
—————————
7SundayW, 81–61vs. Georgetown8–1
13SaturdayW, 80–62vs. USC Upstate9–1
16TuesdayW, 77–58vs. ETSU10–1
CBS Sports Classic
in Atlanta
20SaturdayW, 71–70vs. Ohio State11–1
—————————
22MondayW, 99–51vs. East Carolina12–1
30TuesdayW, 79–66vs. Florida State13–1,
1–0 ACC
January
3SaturdayL, 97–83at No. 24 SMU13–2, 1–1
10SaturdayW, 87–84vs. Wake Forest14–2, 2–1
14Wednesday9 p.m.at StanfordACCN
17Saturday4 p.m.at CaliforniaACCN
21Wednesday7 p.m.vs. Notre DameESPN2
24Saturday2 p.m.at No. 23 VirginiaESPN
31Saturday2 p.m.at Georgia TechACCN
February
2Monday7 p.m.vs. SyracuseESPN
7Saturday6:30vs. No. 6 DukeESPN
10Tuesday7 p.m.at MiamiESPN or
ESPN2
14Saturday2 p.m.vs. PittsburghESPN
17Tuesday7 p.m.at N.C. StateESPN or
ESPN2
21Saturday1 p.m.at SyracuseABC
23Monday7 p.m.vs. No. 20 LouisvilleESPN
28Saturday6:30 or 8:30vs. Virginia TechESPN or
ESPN2
March
3Tuesday7 p.m.vs. ClemsonESPN or
ESPN2
7Saturday6:30at No. 6 DukeESPN
10–14Tues.-Sat.ACC
tournament		Spectrum Center,
Charlotte

Photo via @UNC_Basketball

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Published by R.L. Bynum

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