Former Blue Devil star Brandon Ingram is staying busy in the days leading up to next Thursday’s NBA draft, making appearances on two prominent ESPN shows Wednesday morning.
Ingram did an interview on "Mike and Mike"—co-hosted by Mike Golic and Mike Greenberg on ESPN2—before leading off "First Take" with co-host Skip Bayless and moderator Molly Qerim to wrap up his morning at ESPN’s studios in Bristol, Conn. Speed Stick sponsored Ingram’s appearances, and the 6-foot-9 forward was dressed in a navy blue suit and black tie.
Although Ingram is expected to be one of the top two players chosen in the draft along with Ben Simmons, a forward out of LSU, he downplayed what it would mean to hear his name first when the Philadelphia 76ers make the top selection next Thursday. The Los Angeles Lakers hold the second overall pick.
Ingram insisted that he was happy to be in a position to be drafted at all and heaped praise on Duke head coach Mike Krzyzewski for getting him to this position.
“He had confidence in me, and by the end of [high school] he thought I was special and always called me unique,” Ingram said on "Mike and Mike." “Heading into the McDonald’s All-American game, he gave me a lot of advice, and every piece of advice he told me was true, so going into my Duke freshman year, he just told me everything I needed to do to succeed at the next level.”
Questions about Ingram’s slender frame have followed him throughout his career, and his weight was a common theme on both shows Wednesday. Golic and Greenberg jokingly presented him with a large plate of pastries and peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and Ingram said he eats lots of proteins to help put on weight.
The Kinston, N.C., native said that he generally avoids junk food, but noted that he has a soft spot for peanut butter pretzels.
Ingram told Bayless on "First Take" that he has bulked up from 192 pounds to 197 pounds since his last game at Duke after starting the season at 169, and said his goal is to get to 210 pounds by the start of the NBA season.
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