In 2016, St. Mark’s High School basketball coach Greg Guiler called his team into a huddle, welcoming a special guest: junior guard Will Ingram’s younger brother, Harrison. Harrison was just an eighth grader, but Guiler wanted to see what he had.
Turns out he had a lot.
“He just had a perfect day,” Guiler said. “I don’t think he turned the ball over, I don’t think he missed a single shot. It was like everything had the coaches looking at each other laughing and just saying, ‘This kid is unbelievable!’
“Harrison’s one of those guys, the first time you see him all you can say is ‘Wow.’ He makes the game so much fun to watch.”
Fast forward four years later, Ingram finds himself as one of the best wings in the nation, ranked the 2021 class’ 13th-best player overall, per 247 Sports Composite. He possesses great speed and a good eye for playing on and off the ball. His finishing ability, as well as passing vision, makes him a threat whenever the ball is in his hands. On the defensive end, Ingram’s speed allows him to keep up with some of the toughest assignments in the country, and he is a tenacious rebounder who can win battles in the paint against taller opponents.
Harrison’s game has a little bit of everything, which was on full display in a game against Prolific Prep and 2020’s top recruit Jalen Green last November. Despite coming into the game as heavy underdogs, St. Mark’s put up a tough fight in a 57-44 defeat, with Harrison putting up 22 points, six assists and eight rebounds in an all-out, singlehanded effort.
“The way he was able to get in the lane and create for everybody else, it helped give us a mindset that we weren’t just playing to compete anymore, we were playing to win,” Guiler said.
Ingram will be playing under far brighter lights next season as a college freshman. According to a photo posted on his Instagram on Thursday afternoon, Ingram’s final six schools include Stanford, Howard, Harvard, UNC, Purdue and Michigan, with a decision to come on Friday.
“All of the schools are great, and all the coaches are great guys,” Ingram’s father Tyrous said. “From a college perspective, we want him to go to a school that has balance with good athletics and good academics. As a parent that’s what we want and I imagine that that’s what all parents want, to have that balance.”
Tyrous remembers when he began to hear from AAU coaches that his son was a special player. While he wanted his son to continue to improve his craft and further his passion, Tyrous always made sure to remind his son that academics were priority number one, something that Harrison has accepted en route to earning a perfect 4.0 GPA.
“There were worse things he could be doing,” Tyrous said. “So if he wanted to play basketball and continue to play it at a high level and has a real opportunity to do so, then we have to help him any way we can to achieve that.”
As Harrison’s basketball career continued to flourish, he began playing in AAU tournaments across the nation where he crossed paths with Jett and Jace Howard, the sons of Michigan coach Juwan Howard. Tyrous recalls that he and Howard were able to see each of their sons grow as they crossed paths at those tournaments, though admits that when Howard first took the Michigan job, there was a lapse in communication for a few months on the recruiting trail. That changed, though, when Howard heard about Harrison and instantly remembered who he was.
“(When Juwan) reached out, there was an instant rapport there,” Tyrous said. “That’s been a huge (tether) and a huge advantage for that institution and that coaching staff.”
After months of speculation, Harrison will officially end his recruitment on Friday when he plans to announce his commitment on Instagram at 5:00 PM ET. The pick remains a tightly-guarded secret.
“We give him the room to handle his affairs,” Tyrous said. “So we’re not doing his talking for him or doing his thinking for him. We always tell him to tell the truth, and that if you do that then you’ll be in a good place.”