Cornelius Ingram Jr. left a legacy at Hawthorne, and now he won’t be far from home during college hoops season.
On Wednesday at Montverde Academy, where he transferred to play basketball for his senior season of high school, CJ Ingram signed to play college basketball at the University of Florida.
He was one of 19 Montverde Academy student-athletes to sign collegiately.
Ingram (6’6, 195), who is rated the No. 22 overall player in the country by 247Sports, committed to Florida in August on his 17th birthday.
A week earlier, he decided to forego his senior year of football to focus on a promising college hoops career.
It paid off.
The 4-star small forward, who is the No. 4 overall senior in the Sunshine State, chose UF over Kansas, Michigan, Texas A&M and Missouri, among many others.
The two-time Florida Dairy Farmers Class 1A Player of the Year, averaged 24 points per game, 8.5 rebounds, 3.7 assists, 3.7 steals, and 1.9 blocks per game for the Hornets (16-5) during his junior season at Hawthorne, which ended in the first round of the Class 1A state playoffs (56-51 loss vs. Fort White).
He was a part of back-to-back final four teams during his freshman and sophomore seasons in 2022 and 2023 at Hawthorne, which advanced to its eighth state semifinal under head coach Greg Bowie this past Monday night.
As a freshman, Ingram made two free throws with six seconds to play in double overtime to lift the top-seeded Hornets to a 40-39 win against No. 2 seed Trenton in the Class 1A-Region 4 Final to advance to Lakeland.
As a sophomore, he was named the 1A POY after he helped lead the Hornets back to the state semifinals by averaging 21.6 points, 8.3 rebounds, 2.1 assists and 3.3 steals per game.
Ingram chose to give up an opportunity to win a state title in basketball for his hometown, where his dad was a star before playing both football and basketball at the University of Florida.
He wanted to play at a high level so the tougher competition would have him primed to compete as a freshman at UF.
As a senior, Ingram leads Montverde Academy, the No. 5 overall team in Florida, in scoring (12.5 ppg), rebounding (6.9 rpg), and steals (1.8 spg). He’s also second on the Eagles (18-5) with 17 blocks.
Although he wasn’t a part of a state championship team in basketball, he excelled on the gridiron.
On the football field, Ingram led Hawthorne to its first-ever football state title in 2022.
He followed that up with another FHSAA Class 1R football championship in 2023, finishing his career with a 25-game winning streak.
In his final season, Ingram completed 128-of-199 passes for 2,618 yards with 38 TDs and 7 interceptions. He also rushed for 333 yards on 62 carries (5.4 AVG) with 6 TDs. He was also named the 2023 Florida Dairy Farmers Class 1R Player of the Year.
Ingram joins Westminster Academy (Fort Lauderdale) shooting guard Alex Lloyd (6’3, 165) as part of Florida head coach Todd Golden’s Class of 2025.
Lloyd, who chose the Gators over Miami and FSU, among others, is the No. 39 overall player in the country.