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Ingram (15) runs out onto the court at Stegeman Coliseum last Friday. LANCE MCCURLEY/Staff -
Jailyn Ingram (15) during the University of Georgia basketball’s “Stegmania” celebration on Friday, Oct. 7. LANCE McCURLEY/Staff
Jailyn Ingram wears a silver chain around his neck with his initials when he’s not on the basketball court. The former Morgan County standout and two-time state champion wears it because it reminds him of home.
“I don’t know how to explain it, but my chain, obviously, has my initials on it,” Ingram told the Lake Oconee News. “It also has my area code, which is Madison, Georgia. The 706 area code. I just wanted to put something on it that represents me. I pull it out every now and then.”
Ingram begins his final year at the collegiate level next month as the University of Georgia men’s basketball team starts its inaugural season under new head coach Mike White.
The 6-foot-7, 225-pound power forward was one of the team’s top players through its first nine games last year. He then suffered a season-ending ACL injury this past December.
Ingram has since been working with the Georgia medical staff on returning to the court.
“The offseason has really been full of rehab, long days in the gym and early mornings [working out],” Ingram said. “I am trying to stay consistent with the whole approach and be 100 percent healthy before I get back [on the court]. It’s been a long process getting back out there.”
Ingram averaged 10.7 points and 6.1 rebounds per game last season before his injury. He was one of the Bulldogs’ most productive players through those first 10 games in 2021-22.
Now, Ingram is hoping to make more of an impact in his final season of eligibility at UGA. He is the elder statesman on a team that returns five players from last year. The Bulldogs went 6-26 overall and 1-17 in SEC competition under former head coach Tom Crean.
“It was exciting, honestly,” Ingram said of last season before his injury. “I was able to come back and get a grove by playing in front of my friends and family. They kind of gave me that motivation, and I was able to stay determined and reach my goals with that stat line.”
White is now tasked with turning the program around, and he believes Ingram can help his cause. The first-year head coach thinks the seventh-year senior is one of the key pieces that can motivate and lead the nine new players, who are either transfers or true freshmen.
“In all of the spring meetings I had with players, he was a guy that was pointed to as much as anyone in terms of his voice in the locker room and him being an extension of staff,” White said of Ingram in June. “He’s older, experienced, a voice of reason with maturity.”
Ingram spent his first five seasons at Florida Atlantic, where he reached the 1,000point career mark. He started in 105 of 121 games played over five seasons, averaging 10.9 points and 5.2 rebounds per game.
Ingram also finished his career in Boca Raton ranked No. 6 in scoring. He was also a star on the hardwood at Morgan County under head coaches Charlemagne Gibbons and Jamond Sims.
Ingram helped lead the Bulldogs to titles in 2014 and 2016. He was also named the Georgia Class AAA Player of the Year as a senior in 2015-16.
“Coach Gibbons started the whole foundation of it. He instilled in our minds what we wanted, which was a success,” Ingram said. “Once coach Sims came in, he had the same plan, so it gelled really well with us. He just kept it going on and we succeeded under his direction.”
Ingram still keeps up with some of his high school teammates, including Tookie Brown, who played at Georgia Southern. He remembers hanging out with coaches and other players.
It was those relationships he built at Morgan County High School that have helped shape him into the player and person he is today. It’s also driven him to keep on going all these years later, especially after facing a lot of adversity with injuries and playing through the pandemic.
“I remember those long bus rides. We embraced that type of stuff,” Ingram said. “We knew what we had to do to compete and win. Those were the small memories I have of those days.
I definitely keep up with old teammates such as Tookie (Brown), C.J. Turman and all of those guys that were on those teams. We all see each other around and text each other.”
Ingram gets back to Madison every now and then, but admitted he can’t wait to see what new Morgan County head coach Cody Anderson can do with the Bulldogs in year one of his tenure.
“I’ve heard really good things about him,” Ingram said of Anderson. “He’s a determined man. Honestly, I feel like that’s what we need at Morgan County given the last couple of years. I haven’t met him in person yet, but we’ve exchanged phone numbers and interacted between texts.”
Georgia begins its season on Monday, Nov. 7, against Western Carolina. The Bulldogs of Madison begin their season against Lowndes on Saturday, Nov. 12 in a tournament at Berkmar High School.