'K-Town phenom' finally hooks up
with Pirates
From staff and ECU
reports
Wake Forest backcourt
player and former Kinston High School star Jeremy Ingram is heading for
the place East Carolina wanted him to be all along.
The Demon Deacons
sophomore, who played alongside ECU junior swingman Corey Rouse at
Kinston High, has transferred to East Carolina, the school announced
Thursday in a press release.
Two years ago, Pirates
head coach Bill Herrion waged an intense recruiting battle for the
K-Town phenom before losing out to Wake Forest.
Ingram told the Kinston
Free Press last month that he was reevaluating his future, indicating he
had a desire to join the Pirates.
“I’ve been thinking about
this since the summer,” Ingram told the paper at the time. “And ECU is
where I want to be.”
A 6-foot-3 guard who
played his freshman season and the first semester of his sophomore
season at Wake Forest, Ingram must sit out two consecutive semesters
before regaining his playing eligibility.
He can begin practicing
with the Pirates at the start of the 2005 spring semester, but will not
be eligible to compete in a game until the completion of the 2005 fall
semester.
Once he officially joins
the Pirates' roster, Ingram will have two and a half years of
eligibility remaining.
Ingram played in eight
games for the Deacons last season, averaging 1.6 points and 0.8 rebounds
per game. He made 5-of-15 field goal attempts, including 3-of-7
three-point attempts. He finished his rookie campaign with an assist to
turnover ratio of 2:1.
“We’re very happy to add
Jeremy to our program,” said Pirate head coach Bill Herrion in a
statement. “This is a great opportunity for him to restart his
basketball career at East Carolina.
"The thing we liked about
him in high school when we were recruiting him was that he was a really
good kid, very good athlete, strong physically and had a chance to be a
really good defensive player at the college level.
“He was a very highly
rated player coming out of high school and a lot of kids, particularly
from North Carolina, want to play in the ACC. Sometimes that just
doesn’t work out. Again, this is a great opportunity for him to restart
his basketball career. I think this is going to be a great fit and we
welcome him with open arms.”
One of the nation's most
sought-after prep prospects in 2003, Ingram averaged 19 points, eight
rebounds, five assists, three steals and two blocks per game as a senior
at Kinston High, leading the Vikings to a 23-7 overall record and the
state finals, earning all-conference and all-state honors along the way.
He played in the North
Carolina East-West All-Star Game in Greensboro and participated in the
Nike All-American camp twice.
As a junior, Ingram
averaged 17 points, eight rebounds, four assists, four three-point field
goals and two steals per game, teaming with Rouse to lead the team to a
26-4 mark and a berth in the Eastern Regionals.
Ingram played his junior
and senior campaigns at Kinston High under Coach Wells Gullege. During
his his freshman and sophomore seasons at the school, Ingram played for
current ECU assistant coach George Stackhouse.
Ingram announced his
intention to transfer from Wake Forest on November 2.
02/23/07 11:46 AM
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Bonesville.net contributed to this report. An
ECU Athletics press release was used in
compiling this report.
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