NCAA grants Ingram his waiver

DESTIN, Fla. – Georgia basketball coach Mike White joked in 11 years as a head coach, he’d never broken any news.

That’s no longer the case.

Tuesday at the SEC Spring Meetings, White confirmed that the NCAA has granted Jailyn Ingram a seventh year of eligibility and will play for the Bulldogs next year.

“He’s good to go. The NCAA has allowed it,” White told a trio of reporters at the Sandestin Beach Hilton.

The 6-foot-7 forward averaged 10.7 points and was pulling down a team-high six rebounds per game, before tearing his ACL nine games into the season in the second half against Jacksonville.

He notched seven double-figure scoring efforts over Georgia’s first nine contests, and led the Bulldogs in rebounding four times, including 12 against Virginia, the most on the team all season.

“He’s going to bring a lot of experience. In all of the spring meetings that I had with players, he was a guy who was pointed to as much as anyone in terms of his voice in the locker room and being an extension of the staff.”

Ingram’s return gives the Bulldogs five players who were part of Tom Crean’s final year in Athens who will also be back for next year.

He joins the seven transfers/signees that the school recently announced.

“He’s older, experienced, a voice of reason, some maturity,” White said. “I like Jailyn, and in terms of his ability to stretch it with his size, he can play some mismatch, small ball. He can play some bigger wing. He’s a versatile guy with some good experience.”