Florida guard CJ Ingram will return to the Gators for his sophomore season, as he announced Tuesday afternoon on social media.
Ingram appeared in 21 games during his freshman campaign, totaling 46 points, 19 rebounds and nine assists across 114 minutes. The 6-foot-6, 205-pound guard shot 45.7% from the field and 50% from three-point range, albeit on low volume (16 attempts).
Ranked as a top 20 prospect in his class by 247Sports, Ingram did not crack the Gators’ primary eight-man rotation, receiving most of his minutes in mop-up duty with games out of reach.
Ingram’s best performances came in his final two appearances of the season, when he scored a career-high eight points in each game against Mississippi State and Prairie View, shooting a combined 6-of-8 from the field, including 3-of-4 from beyond the arc.
“CJ is a guy that’s really capable of playing at a lot of places,” Golden said on Ingram during the season. “But right now with the level our program is at there’s just not a lot of opportunities for him. He’s had great moments earlier in the year. He’s had great moments in practice. He’s a guy that we hope to be a key cog in our program for an extended period of time.”
His father, Cornelius Ingram, was a national champion tight end for Florida from 2004–08 and also appeared in 19 basketball games during the 2004–05 season.
Florida returns six of its top nine scorers from last season, including All-American forward Thomas Haugh, All-SEC forward Alex Condon, SEC Sixth Man of the Year Urban Klavzar, and guards Isaiah Brown, Boogie Fland, and CJ Ingram.
With rising sophomore guard Alex Lloyd also back at Florida, the Gators retain both top 50 freshmen from last year’s recruiting class, a testament to the coaching and development in Gainesville.
The Gators await a decision from Defensive Player of the Year Rueben Chinyelu, who declared for the NBA Draft while maintaining eligibility. Given the production already back from an SEC Championship season and the program’s fourth No. 1 seed in NCAA Tournament history, Florida is positioned to have one of the best rosters in college basketball once again.