Scouting high school basketball players, and subsequently ranking them, is risky business. After all, you never know how much you might regret over ranking, or under ranking, a prospect once they show their capabilities at the college level.
In the case of Brandon Ingram, scouts seem to have agreed that his potential outweighs some of the present concerns that exist with regards to his game. Potential is the riskiest bet of all.
Nonetheless, Mike Krzyzewski saw enough to recruit Ingram to Duke, where Ingram recently committed.
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Name: Brandon Ingram
Height: 6’9
Position: Small Forward
Ranking: Five-star, No. 4 overall
Strengths: First of all, Ingram has ridiculous measurements for a college wing, and still-great measurements for an NBA wing. At 6’9, with a 7’3 reach, he gets his shot off against any defender thrown his way, whether that be on the perimeter or at the rim. His emerging ability to be a consistent shooter has opened up the floor in new ways for him offensively, and he’s catching up to his body defensively. The best thing about Ingram, without a doubt, is his consistent improvement over the past few years. That bodes well going forward, as he’s given scouts reason to believe that his skill set and motor will continue to catch up to his ridiculously high ceiling.
Areas to Improve: For all of those impressive measurements that Ingram has, his body hasn’t fully caught up from a maturity standpoint. He’s still extremely light in the shorts, and will need to add a significant amount of muscle to stand up to the rigors of a college, and eventually an NBA, season. More consistent effort defensively would do him well, as well.
