Greg Carr, Cornelius Ingram have been linked forever in Alachua, Marion county sports

Their hometowns of Sparr and Hawthorne separated by 18.1 miles, Greg Carr and Cornelius Ingram didn’t meet one another until the 10th or 11th grade.

But they absolutely knew of each other.

“He was another guy not far away who was being highly recruited in two sports,” Ingram said. “He was at North Marion, so we didn’t really play them, but there was a buzz throughout the area.

“ 'Have you seen Greg Carr play?' ”

Carr said the talk was similar about Ingram.

“When you’ve got two guys doing pretty well, people come up to you and say, ‘Hey, did you hear about this kid?' ” Carr said. “Something was always going on with him and it got people talking.

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“We absolutely knew what he was doing.”

As the years went by, they grew to become friends, and as fate would have it, the two former star athletes will lead their alma maters as coaches on Friday night when NMHS (6-2) visits HHS (6-0).

Here is a look at some of the history between the two.

Carr, Ingram would-be teammates?

Carr and Ingram said they would talk occasionally about playing together in high school, but the conversations never got too serious.

“I’d say to him ‘you should come to Hawthorne’ and he’d say back to me ‘you should come to North Marion,’” Ingram said. “It really would have been something else to throw to him.”

Carr said he had similar thoughts and remembered the transfer talk.

“Playing together was absolutely something we both wanted,” Carr said. “But we are both loyal guys. It was like ‘I can’t make the jump, you make the jump’ both ways.

“It might have worked if we both picked a different school from ours and transferred there together, but we both had such love for where we were already.”

Both were 4-star prospects on recruiting front

Rivals listed Carr and Ingram as 4-star football prospects in the Class of 2004.

Built similarly (Carr was 6-foot-5, 200 pounds, Ingram 6-5, 215), each drew a lot of interest.

Carr was the jumbo wide receiver who had a knack for scoring touchdowns, evidenced by the 29 he scored in four years at Florida State. He was named second-team All-ACC in 2006. Ingram’s designation was “athlete,” but he was brought to Florida as a quarterback and moved to tight end after his first season. He was named second-team All-SEC in 2007.

Both considered the other’s college, and Ingram still happily recounts the day former FSU coach Bobby Bowden visited Hawthorne and signed autographs for any student who asked. Likewise, Carr said he liked UF and had thoughts of being a Gator.

But, in the end, Carr wanted to be somewhat close, but not as close as Gainesville, while Ingram found the lure of playing 15 minutes from home just what he desired.

Each said that while in college they rooted against each other’s team. But they pulled for one another and would turn on "SportsCenter" late Saturday night to see how the other played that day.

One meeting on basketball court in Hawthorne

Ingram and Carr never faced off on the football field in high school, but they did meet once in basketball as seniors.

The game was played at Hawthorne, and while box scores are difficult to find nowadays, it is acknowledged by both that the Hornets won.

Earlier that day, recently fired Williston coach Price Harris got a call from his friend Eric Ostanik, who had been the offensive coordinator at NMHS before recently being hired to take over as Hawthorne’s head coach.

“Eric called me up and said ‘hey, there’s this basketball game in Hawthorne tonight and we have to see these two kids play against each other,” Harris, now the coach at Madison County, recalled. “So, we loaded up the truck and got there to a standing room only crowd. I believe we had to stand in a corner of the gym because the stands were completely full.”

Harris said nobody left disappointed.

“We were expecting to see a great ball game led by two really special athletes," Harris said. "I’ll be honest. I’ve been coaching (26 years) and have seen a lot of great athletes. Greg and Cornelius were two of the greatest I’ve ever seen.”

Harris described the game as a “dunkfest” with “silky smooth” Carr throwing down and Ingram then “trying to rip the goal off at the other end.”

But one other thing stood out to Harris, something he has seen as Carr and Ingram grew into men.

“There was a lot of trying to top each other, but they didn’t trash talk,” Harris said. “They played hard, wanted their teams to win and wanted to win the individual duel, but it was always respectful.

“That is exactly how each guy is now. You know they have that drive, but they’ve always let their performances, whether as athletes or coaches, speak for them.”

Teammates on one-day men's league basketball tournament

Ingram and Carr finally got to play together about six or seven years ago.

Carr called up Ingram and asked if he’d like to join his team for a one-day men’s league basketball tournament in Ocala. Ingram said yes.

Not surprisingly, their team won.

“He can still play,” Ingram said. “I hadn’t played in a while, so I was a little bit rusty. But Greg could still really go.”

Carr said the day was a long time coming.

“The chance to play together was great,” Carr said. “We are two really competitive guys, and being on the same team to compete was a lot of fun.”

Friday Night Lights

If any two people can understand what the other goes through as a star athlete who returns as coach, it is Carr and Ingram.

When things aren’t going great, they each know about the whispers. When success occurs, they also hear the shouts.

“I have so many ties to North Marion,” said Ingram, who spent a few Friday nights on the Colts’ sideline as a spectator before being hired by Hawthorne. “(Former coach, now the Chief Executive Officer of the FHSAA) Craig Damon used to come out to speak to my football program. I know the culture at North Marion, and it is very similar to ours at Hawthorne.”

Carr agreed.

“We both have experienced and can tell stories for forever and a day,” Carr said. “Where we began and the position we both are in now, we both know what it means to our communities.

“And it means a lot to both of us individually.”

This article originally appeared on Ocala Star-Banner: Greg Carr, Cornelius Ingram linked North Marion-Hawthorne, Florida-FSU