UNC Basketball Star Credits One Person for ‘Chippy Attitude'

Harrison Ingram's older brother must've done a number on him years ago, much to the delight of UNC basketball fans this year.

Photo credit: Bob Donnan-USA TODAY Sports

Ahead of Saturday night's bout at No. 9 Duke (24-6, 15-4 ACC), UNC basketball junior Harrison Ingram revealed on Thursday that he plays chess. The 6-foot-7 forward, a proven force for the No. 7 Tar Heels (24-6, 16-3 ACC) but with a story still new to the fanbase after transferring from Stanford, said he's done so since he was 7 years old.

That led to a question from the media about the origin of the 21-year-old Dallas native's off-the-charts competitiveness, routinely on full display in helping power UNC to at least a share of the ACC regular-season title for the first time since 2018-19.

Well, for that, Ingram credits his once-menacing older brother, Will, a 2017-21 Middlebury College guard:

"Really, for me, it's just anything that involves a competition: I don't like to lose. I had an older brother growing up, and he wasn't the nicest guy to me when I was growing up. He was always bullying me.

"So, I feel like I developed that chippy attitude from the way I grew up."

Oddly enough, Harrison Ingram's other sibling, younger sister Lauren, is a Duke volleyball freshman. In the season's first meeting between the archrivals on Feb. 3, a 93-84 Tar Heel home win, she sported his UNC jersey. Ingram, a double-double performer in that contest, had previously worn her Duke jersey at one of her games.

A starter in every outing this season except this week's 84-51 Senior Night win over unranked Notre Dame, Harrison Ingram is posting career-high averages with his 12.5 points, 9.2 rebounds, and 1.5 steals per game as a Tar Heel.

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