The forward’s All-ACC stopover with the Tar Heels has helped put him in position to become Carolina’s first draft pick since 2021.
Adam Smith
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. — Harrison Ingram was standing against the wall, across the hallway from the staircase that descends to the visiting locker room at Cameron Indoor Stadium, when he circled back to the reference point that served as a guiding principle during his brief North Carolina basketball experience.
"We were all ready to go," he said then, more than 3½ months ago. "We weren't scared to come into Duke. These are the games that we look forward to. This is the reason we came to UNC."
The reason, on that March night in that old arena specifically, was securing a sweet sweep of rival Duke and claiming the ACC regular-season title, the first outright conference crown in seven years for the Tar Heels, who completed a 17-3 run through the league. Ingram had been adamant, as UNC went about rattling off six straight victories to close the regular season, that the Tar Heels wouldn't be content sharing the ACC title.
"What else could we have asked for coming to UNC?" he said that night, continuing. "UNC-Duke, last game of the season, for the title. I mean, what else could we have asked for? This is the reason we came to UNC."
From a personal persecutive, the reason sharpens into further focus for the 21-year-old Ingram with this week's NBA Draft, which begins Wednesday night (first round, picks 1-30) and resumes Thursday afternoon (second round, picks 31-58).
He transferred to UNC after two seasons at Stanford not only driven to perform on college basketball's biggest stages and win enough to participate in the NCAA Tournament for the first time, but also intent on expanding his game and proving that he hadn't plateaued as an NBA prospect. Now, Ingram, after an All-ACC stopover at Carolina during which he produced a number of career highs, is in position to become the Tar Heels' first draft choice since 2021, when Day'Ron Sharpe went late in the first round at No. 29 overall to the Phoenix Suns.
"He's really set the tone for the team, for our chemistry," UNC coach Hubert Davis said in March. "We recruited Harrison out of high school … so we knew the type of player that we were going to get, a guy that with his size can do a number of different things defensively. On the offensive end, he can score around the basket, can shoot, can handle, can distribute the ball. But you really never know the person's personality until they actually get here.
"He is our connector. He just, when he comes into a room, just everybody gravitates to him and he just brings everybody's personality together. His smile, his personality just light up a room. He is hilarious. He's one of those dudes that he's funny, (but) he's not trying to be funny. And he's like that all the time. And he has really brought this team to becoming a team because of his personality. Man, the impact that he has had in the locker room, on the bus, on the court, off the court, I just I can't put it into words. I have loved, loved coaching and being around Harrison. His smile is awesome. And he talks a lot of junk, too."
The chiseled Ingram, who was listed at 6-foot-7 and 225 pounds last season with the Tar Heels, checked in at 6-5¼ and 233.6 pounds without shoes last month at the NBA Draft Combine, where his wingspan measured 7-foot and one-fourth of an inch, a sizable mark considering his height. He has drawn favorable NBA comparisons to high-energy wing forwards such as Josh Hart of the New York Knicks, Aaron Nesmith of the Indiana Pacers, and Naji Marshallof the New Orleans Pelicans by some evaluators.
Draft analysts generally have ranked Ingram with second-round grades. This week, for example, Jonathan Givony and Jeremy Woo of ESPN have Ingram landing as the No. 44 selection in the draft, while Jonathan Wasserman of Bleacher Report projects him to be taken with the No. 52 pick. Sam Vecenie of The Athleticslots Ingram at the No.45spot on his draft board.
"I love how Ingram communicates and processes the game on defense," Vecenie wrote in The Athletic's NBA Draft guide. "I really like his passes. But the ticket for Ingram to become a legitimate NBA rotation player is his shot. He must make the open ones and must take advantage of others he gets by speeding up his release. Sometimes prospects can do that. Sometimes they can't."
Ingram indeed made some notable mechanical adjustments, widening his base and simplifying his motion, which helped boost his improved shooting last season. He went 72-for-228 (31.6-percent shooting) from beyond the 3-point arc across his two-season stay at Stanford, before climbing a fraction shy of 7 percentage points to 65-for-169 (38.5-percent shooting) on 3-pointers last season at UNC. Most of those tries with the Tar Heels were catch-and-shoot attempts, rather than off the dribble. Ingram also connected on 36.4 percent of his 3-point launches from 25 feet and deeper last season, suggesting suitable NBA range.
Meanwhile, the effort and versatility and relentlessness that earned him All-ACC third-team honors were undeniable attributes. Ingram delivered 11 double-doubles last season, and UNC went 10-1 in those games. He supplied five games with 20 points or more (against Villanova, Tennessee, Connecticut, Duke and NC State) on the way to averaging a career-best 12.2 points per game. He led the ACC in rebounding during league play at 10.9 boards per game, and finished with 8.8 rebounds per game overall on the season. He grabbed double-digit rebounds in 17 games, including 15 or more four times — hauling in 19 rebounds at NC State, 17 at Florida State, 17 against Virginia Tech, and 15 at Pittsburgh, as the Tar Heels won all four games.
Ingram's contributions were recognized with the Danny Green Most Improved Tar Heel team award. He scored in double figures 28 times, and sank three of more 3-pointers in 10 games. He led UNC with 51 steals on the season, the most at Carolina in seven years, since Joel Berry II collected 53 steals during the 2016-17 season. And Ingram finished third on the team with 80 assists (averaging 2.2 per game).
"Harrison Ingram showed off his shotmaking in one scrimmage and passing with six assists in the other game," Wasserman wrote on NBA.com, referring to the draft combine. "He's earned fans with his connector skill set and strength, and 7-foot wingspan for rebounding and defensive activity. Scouts don't see a likely first-round pick, with questions about his burst for blowing by and explosion at the rim. But his two-way versatility and maturity are strong enough draws to earn (draft) consideration in the 30s."
