UNC Basketball: UNC target Harrison Ingram leaning another direction?

Roy Williams and the UNC basketball program are hoping to secure a commitment from Harrison Ingram, but does the 5-star wing have other plans?

Despite all of their success and subsequent momentum on the recruiting trail over the past few years, the North Carolina Tar Heels have struggled to secure elite wings that they’ve targeted. And it’s not like Roy Williams and company haven’t put in the effort.

Since receiving a commitment from 5-star small forward Nassir Little in 2018, they’ve missed on virtually every wing prospect that they’ve targeted. They struck out on a half-dozen such players in the 2019 class, including Josh Green and Precious Achiuwa, a pair of 5-star small forwards that looked to be favoring North Carolina at one point, but eventually chose Arizona and Memphis, respectively.

It was more of the same in 2020 when they lost out on the Ziaire Williams sweepstakes, though the Tar Heels did secure commitments from 4-star sharpshooters Puff Johnson and Kerwin Walton. And in all fairness, those were very nice additions to a class that finished the recruiting cycle with a No. 3 ranking nationally.

The Tar Heels have an early commitment from class of 2021 4-star small forward Dontrez Styles, the No. 1 prospect in the state of North Carolina, and a player whose ranking I expect to improve over the next year or so. And while I don’t see him reaching 5-star status at any point, he is a solid piece to begin building their 2021 class around. With that said, however, the Tar Heels are still in the market for an elite wing to roam the perimeter and knock down big shots.

They’ve already extended multiple scholarship offers — with more likely to surface in the coming months — and are hoping to earn commitments from at least one of those targets. Harrison Ingram, in particular, is a talented player that UNC has put a lot of focus on to this point.

A 6-foot-7, 210-pound small forward out of St. Mark’s High School in Dallas, Texas, Ingram is ranked 17th in the nation according to the 247Sports Composite. He’s sixth among players at his position, and No. 1 in the Longhorn State. He’s a versatile wing with the ability to play multiple positions on both ends of the floor. He’s got great strength and size for a small forward, handles the basketball well, passes with efficiency, rebounds adequately and has a nice offensive game overall.

Ingram is in possession of two-dozen scholarship offers from some of the top college basketball programs in the nation. Baylor, Florida State, Kansas, Memphis, North Carolina, Purdue, Stanford, Tennessee, Texas Tech and UCLA are among them, and don’t be surprised if offers continue to pour in before he announces a list of finalists.

And while the UNC hoops program and its fans are hoping for a commitment from the talented forward, he may be leaning in a different direction than Chapel Hill. As Rivals recruiting analyst Corey Evans points out, Stanford and Purdue appear to be in pretty good position for a commitment from the top-20 prospect.

"“While there was some talk that Harrison Ingram was close to committing last month, that is far from the truth,” Evans states. “The expectation is for Ingram to release another school list in the coming weeks and that a commitment wouldn’t be made until, at the earliest, the fall.That is nothing to take away from Stanford’s choices. One should believe that recently committed guard Isa Silva has been in Ingram’s ear for the past few weeks about joining him in Palo Alto. Stanford is involved for Rivals150 juniors Stevie Mitchell, Jaylen Blakes, Langston Love, Trey Patterson, and Matthew Cleveland.The Cardinal have a very good chance with Ingram but if things ended today, I would actually side with Purdue. No one has recruited him harder than the Boilermakers and their mix of academics and winning has intrigued Ingram. Do not count out Kansas, Louisville, Memphis, North Carolina or Texas A&M, either, and it wouldn’t come as a surprise if a few other blue bloods entered the picture.”"

As Evans notes, North Carolina and a host of others should not be counted out, nor should other blue blood programs that have yet to enter Ingram’s recruitment. There’s no telling when a commitment, or even a condensed list of programs, will come from Ingram, but I don’t expect his recruitment to end any time soon. I do, however, think that the Tar Heels will remain in contention when he makes a round of cuts to his ballooning list of schools.

Stick with Keeping It Heel for all the latest on the Harrison Ingram recruitment, and everything UNC basketball.