Florida basketball fans have experienced quite a pleasant year. The Gators have caught on fire with a 16-2 start that includes multiple impressive wins. The excitement doesn't end there, however., as Montverde Academy's CJ Ingram is expected to sign with Florida in the spring.
Hoophall Classic performance
Ingram was among the notable prospects playing in the Hoop Hall Classic this past weekend. He and his Montverde squad competed against some of the best high school basketball prospects and schools in the nation.
Specifically, Ingram was one to earn raving reviews, especially from 247Sports' Dushawn London: "The matchup of Montverde and Oak Hill was decided fairly quickly with Montverde winning by a blowout score of 78-52. I came away impressed by CJ Ingram, who's been a stock-riser in the class of 2025. The commit was locked in defensively, using his strong frame and defensive instincts to impact the game. Offensively, he didn't shoot the ball that well, but he did use his strength, frame, and explosiveness to draw contact and finish through the physicality."
London also listed other notes from the weekend here.
Additionally, Ingram earned a ranking as one of the top ten performers during the event, with On3's Jamie Shaw specifically identifying Ingram's Sunday performance, "The performance for on Sunday was an all-around one. However, if you were to look at the stat sheet, you would not understand the totality of his impact on the double-figure win.
His defense was on another level, showing just how high his ceiling could be as a stopper on that end of the floor. Naturally, if you see a player went 6-6 from the field and 4-4 from the free throw line, you get the gist of their offensive impact. The efficiency was impressive. Ingram was able to gain an advantage and finish the play. When it wasn’t there, he moved off the ball and took defenders with him. However, it was the job he did defending that is the lion’s share of the reason why he is this high on this list. He used every inch of his lengthy 6-foot-6 frame to make everything difficult for the consensus No. 1 player in the country. Ingram has quick feet with natural anticipation and a tenacity in his game that is hard to miss. He held Dybantsa to 8 points on 3-10 (1-5 3P) shooting and two turnovers in the first half as Montverde took a 42-15 lead into halftime."
You can check out the other top performers from the weekend here.
What's next?
Ingram has been verbally committed to Florida since an online announcement he made through social media on August 12th, 2024. Since his commitment, his ranking has dramatically increased across all four major recruiting sites, with a consensus ranking of a top sixty prospect. We wrote about his rise here.
Despite declining to sign during the earlier signing period, Ingram still intends to sign with Todd Golden and staff in the spring, numerous sources indicate. Florida successfully landed his verbal pledge, and it appears that this recruitment may come free of dramatic twists, which may cause for a sigh of relief for many Gators fans.