C.J. Ingram commits to the Gators

Hawthorne's C.J. Ingram (10) committed on Monday to play basketball for the University of Florida.
Hawthorne's C.J. Ingram (10) committed on Monday to play basketball for the University of Florida.
Photo by C.J. Gish

Last week, C.J. Ingram announced he was giving up high school football for his senior year to focus on playing basketball.

On Monday, his 17th birthday, Ingram took the next step when he committed to playing basketball for the University of Florida.

Ingram (6’6, 200), who is ranked as the No. 69 overall senior in the country by ESPN, chose the Gators over Kansas, Michigan, Texas A&M, and Georgia among his top 10.

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A lot has changed since May for the 4-star small forward, who will play basketball at Hawthorne during the 2024-25 season.

He said he is very thankful for the opportunity to compete on the Nike circuit this past summer because it gave him a chance to showcase his game to college coaches and compete at a higher level.

“Going into the spring and the summer I was very underrated, and I still feel like I am, but now that I’m on that radar they know who I am,” he said. “The circuit made everything easier for me, especially this high school decision because I wasn’t highly recruited at the time but now that I’ve been on the Nike circuit coaches know what I can do.”

He went from just two offers up until May (Samford and FAMU) to over 20 in a short period of time.

“He had an amazing spring and summer on the AAU circuit, and he’s skyrocketed into a great basketball player, from the rankings and then just improvement,” said his dad Cornelius Ingram, who played football and basketball for the Gators in the mid-2000s. “And the crazy thing, with so many college basketball coaches calling me about C.J., probably the most important thing I’m able to mention to them is he’s only been focused on basketball for the last three and a half months.”

The sudden jump in exposure made him look at the bigger picture, especially since it has been a dream of his to play professionally in the NBA.

“Obviously it was a tough decision to leave behind all of the success and notoriety of football, but after being recruited very highly in basketball, I had to sacrifice something, and basketball is what I’ve always really wanted,” said Ingram, who got into basketball around the age of six when he would watch his favorite player LeBron James.

Ingram, who repeated as the Florida Dairy Farmers Class 1A Player of the Year, is coming off a junior year in basketball in which he averaged 24 points, 8.5 rebounds, 3.7 assists, 3.7 steals, and 1.9 blocks per game for the Hornets (16-5).

He believes he can be even better in his senior season.

“My junior year I tended to be lackadaisical, lazy showings and stuff like that,” he said. “I always pretty much had the skill part of the game down pat but now that I had to play against guys that were bigger, maybe even stronger and faster at a higher level this summer with AAU, it made me think about doing the little things to improve my game. Not to say it will be easier, but it should make the game way more simple.”

Next week his dad, who enters his 10th season as head coach, will lead the Hornets in pursuit of a third straight state football title.

“It was definitely hard to leave behind being coached by my dad, my uncle (offensive coordinator Greg Bowie), playing with my best friends and for the city of Hawthorne, but I’ve still got basketball to do that,” C.J. Ingram said. “Now that I’ve got time to put all my time into my craft at basketball, I feel like I should have a way better season and we should win a state championship this year.”

Father and son will miss being on the gridiron together.

“If I could, I would still be playing right now, but the sacrifice has been made,” C.J. Ingram said. “I’m 100% confident that they’ll win another one even without me at quarterback so I’ll definitely be there supporting them at every game, but it will definitely hurt not being on the field.”

The younger Ingram’s final game in a football uniform ended last December with a 22-13 win against Madison County in the Class 1R state title game in Tallahassee.

He finished his prep football career with a 25-game winning streak.

“It was a lot of fun,” C.J. Ingram said. “I wouldn’t say there weren’t a lot of ups and downs but just seeing guys go through a lot and how the game of football can change somebody’s life, it’s crazy being a part of such a successful program and doing it in front of the people that you love and people that you’ve known all your life. It just meant so much.”

Just not as much as the game of basketball.

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