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 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.”
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.
| Date | Month/day | Score | Opponent/event (current ranks) | Record |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| October | ||||
| 27 | Friday | W, 117–53 | vs. St. Augustine’s | Exhibition |
| November | ||||
| 6 | Monday | W, 86–70 | vs. Radford | 1–0 |
| 12 | Sunday | W, 90–68 | vs. Lehigh | 2–0 |
| 17 | Friday | W, 77–52 | vs. UC Riverside | 3–0 |
| Battle 4 Atlantis in the Bahamas | ||||
| 22 | Wednesday | W, 91–69 | Northern Iowa | 4–0 |
| 23 | Thursday | L, 83–81, OT | Villanova | 4–1 |
| 24 | Friday | W, 87–72 | Arkansas | 5–1 |
| ACC/SEC Men’s Challenge | ||||
| 29 | Wednesday | W, 100–92 | vs. No. 6 Tennessee | 6–1 |
| December | ||||
| 2 | Saturday | W, 78–70 | vs. Florida State | 7–1, 1–0 ACC |
| Jimmy V Classic in New York | ||||
| 5 | Tuesday | L, 87–67 | No. 1 Connecticut | 7–2 |
| CBS Sports Classic in Atlanta | ||||
| 16 | Saturday | L, 87–83 | No. 12 Kentucky | 7–3 |
| Jumpman Invitational in Charlotte | ||||
| 20 | Wednesday | W, 81–69 | Oklahoma | 8–3 |
| ————————— | ||||
| 29 | Friday | W, 105–60 | vs. Charleston Southern | 9–3 |
| January | ||||
| 2 | Tuesday | W, 70–57 | at Pittsburgh | 10–3, 2–0 ACC |
| 6 | Saturday | W, 65–55 | at Clemson | 11–3, 3–0 ACC |
| 10 | Wednesday | W, 67–54 | at N.C. State | 12–3, 4–0 ACC |
| 13 | Saturday | W, 103–67 | vs. Syracuse | 13–3, 5–0 ACC |
| 17 | Wednesday | W, 86–70 | vs. Louisville | 14–3, 6–0 ACC |
| 20 | Saturday | W, 76–66 | vs. Boston College | 15–3, 7–0 ACC |
| 22 | Monday | W, 85–64 | vs. Wake Forest | 16–3, 8–0 ACC |
| 27 | Saturday | W, 75–68 | at Florida State | 17–3, 9–0 ACC |
| 30 | Tuesday | L, 74–73 | at Georgia Tech | 17–4, 9–1 ACC |
| February | ||||
| 3 | Saturday | W, 93–84 | vs. No. 13 Duke | 18–4, 10–1 ACC |
| 6 | Tuesday | L, 80–76 | vs. Clemson | 18–5, 10–2 ACC |
| 10 | Saturday | W, 75–72 | at Miami | 19–5, 11–2 ACC |
| 13 | Tuesday | L, 86–79 | at Syracuse | 19–6, 11–3 ACC |
| 17 | Saturday | W, 96–81 | vs. Virginia Tech | 20–6, 12–3 ACC |
| 24 | Saturday | W, 54–44 | at Virginia | 21–6, 13–3 ACC |
| 26 | Monday | W, 75–71 | vs. Miami | 22–6, 14–3 ACC |
| March | ||||
| 2 | Saturday | W, 79–70 | vs. N.C. State | 23–6, 15–3 ACC |
| 5 | Tuesday | W, 84–51 | vs. Notre Dame | 24–6, 16–3 ACC |
| 9 | Saturday | W, 84–79 | at No. 13 Duke | 25–6, 17–3 ACC |
| ACC tournament Washington | ||||
| 14 | Thursday | W, 92–67 | Quarterfinals: Florida State | 26–6 |
| 15 | Friday | W, 72–65 | Semifinals: Pittsburgh | 27–6 |
| 16 | Saturday | L, 84–76 | Final: N.C. State | 27–7 |
| NCAA tournament | ||||
| 21 | Thursday | W, 90–62 | First round in Charlotte: Wagner | 28–7 |
| 23 | Saturday | W, 85–69 | Second round in Charlotte: Michigan State | 29–7 |
| 28 | Thursday | L, 89–87 | Sweet 16 in Los Angeles: No. 19 Alabama | 29–8 |
Key events, dates
Saturday, April 27, was the deadline for players to submit their names to the NBA draft
Wednesday — Deadline for players to enter the transfer portal
May 11–12 — NBA G League Elite Camp in Chicago
May 12–19 — NBA Combine in Chicago
May 17–19 — Evaluation for high school players at NCAA-certified events (EYBL in Indianapolis is one of those)
May 29 at 11:59 p.m. — Deadline to withdraw from NBA draft and maintain college eligibility
June 16 at 5 p.m. — Deadline to withdraw from the NBA draft
UNC schedule so far
Nov. 8 — at Kansas (final AP rank No. 20; final NET ranking No. 19)
Nov. 22 — at Hawaii (final NET ranking No. 172)
Nov. 25–27 — Maui Invitational — Auburn (final AP rank No. 18; final NET ranking No. 5), Colorado (unranked; No. 25), Connecticut (No. 1; No. 2), Dayton (No. 24; No. 23), Iowa State (No. 8; No. 6), Memphis (unranked; No. 75), Michigan State (unranked; No. 24)
Dec. 14 — vs. La Salle (final NET ranking No. 195)
Likely in late November — Opponent TBA in ACC/SEC Challenge
December — vs. UCLA (final NET ranking No. 107) in CBS Sports Classic (date, location TBA)
December — vs. Florida (final NET ranking No. 29) in Jumpman Invitational at Charlotte’s Spectrum Center (date TBA)
— Games home and away against Duke, N.C. State and Pittsburgh
— Home games vs. Boston College, California, Georgia Tech, Miami, SMU, Stanford and Virginia
— Road games vs. Clemson, Florida State, Louisville, Notre Dame, Syracuse, Virginia Tech and Wake Forest
Note: 2024 NCAA tournament teams are in bold.
Potential 2024-25 UNC roster
| No. | Class | Player | Pos. | Hgt | Wgt |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| — | Freshman | James Brown (4 star) | 5 | 6–8 | 225 |
| — | Freshman | Ian Jackson (5 star) | 2 | 6–4 | 180 |
| — | Freshman | Drake Powell (5 star) | 2 | 6–5 | 185 |
| 2 | Soph. | Elliot Cadeau | PG | 6–1 | 180 |
| 1 | Soph. | Zayden High | 4 | 6–9 | 225 |
| — | Junior | Cade Tyson | 3 | 6–7 | 203 |
| 13 | Junior | Jalen Washington | 5 | 6–10 | 230 |
| 0 | Junior | Seth Trimble | 2 | 6–3 | 195 |
| 5 | Graduate | RJ Davis | PG | 6–0 | 180 |
| Eligible for fifth season | |||||
| 24 | Graduate | Jae’Lyn Withers | 4 | 6–9 | 215 |
| Walk-ons eligible for 5th season | |||||
| 14 | Graduate | Creighton Lebo | PG | 6–1 | 180 |
| 22 | Graduate | Rob Landry | 2 | 6–4 | 190 |
Photo via @UNC_Basketball
tarheeltribune.com 
1 Comment