By CHIP MILLER & ADAM ZAGORIA
Brandon Ingram, the highly coveted 2015 forward from Kinston (NC) High, will announce his college choice on Monday evening.
I will announce my college decision @ Kinston High Gymnasium tomorrow 6:10 pm. Open to public, doors will be closed @6. @wcti12 @WITN @wnct9
— Brandon Ingram (@B_Ingram13) April 26, 2015
The No. 3 player in the Class of 2015 according to 247Sports.com and the projected No. 6 pick in the 2016 NBA Draft by DraftExpress.com, Ingram will choose between six powerhouses, Duke, North Carolina, Kentucky, Kansas, N.C. State and UCLA.
“I’m still torn between a few schools,” Ingram says in the above video. “So I’ve set a timeline for myself, April 27th, because I’m ready to get it over with.”
Duke, which twice met with Ingram last week, is the clear favorite on the 247Sports CrystalBall, owning 76 percent of the predictions as of this writing, but that hasn’t always been the case as North Carolina initially led.
“What has stood out with [Duke] is them telling me how unique I was,” Ingram told ESPNU on Tuesday before the second Duke visit. “[Coach K] knows a lot about me and they are a great fit for me.”
Apparently the addition of reclassified point guard Derryck Thornton to Duke’s recruiting class made a positive impact on Ingram.
“It impacts [my decision] a lot,” he told ESPNU. “That [lack of a point guard] was one of my concerns coming and looking at the particular schools so that impacts a lot.”
Some observers believe Ingram could still end up at North Carolina because he is close with former Tar Heel Jerry Stackhouse, who also played for Kinston (N.C.) High and coached Ingram during the summer on Stackhouse Elite. Ingram is also close with former Tar Heel Reggie Bullock.
“It will factor a little bit but not much,” Ingram said of those relationships. “I take advice from those guys and they tell me to go wherever I fit the best and wherever I’m happy, so it may factor a little bit but not much. I have a good relationship with coach Roy Williams and coach Steve Robinson.”
Ingram has said he likely would have committed to the Tar Heels in the fall had it not been for the academic scandal at Chapel Hill and potential sanctions.
“[Coach Williams] talked privately a little bit, and they have just got the [notice of] allegations April 17th, so we’ll go from there and [Wednesday] with the next in-home visit so we’ll see,” Ingram said Tuesday.
A North Carolina spokesman told SNY.tv that the school has not, in fact, received a Notice of Allegations from the NCAA.
Despite Ingram’s concerns, coach Williams got the last chance to persuade the rising wing that Chapel Hill is still the place for him.
“They’ve been recruiting me for my whole high school career so there’s not to many more things to ask,” Ingram said.
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