IU Basketball transfer portal spotlight: Lamar Wilkerson

IU basketball has added 10 players this spring from the transfer portal. Player by player, we’ll take a look at each addition in our “transfer portal spotlight” series.

Today: Lamar Wilkerson

Previously: Tucker DeVries, Conor Enright, Reed Bailey

Bio: 6-foot-5, 205-pound senior guard from Ashdown, Arkansas

Previous school: Sam Houston (2022-25, three seasons), Three Rivers College (2021-22, one season)

Career stats: 13.9 points, 3.6 rebounds, 1.3 assists and 0.9 steals in 27.3 minutes per game. Wilkerson is a career 44.8 percent shooter from the field, a 40 percent 3-point shooter and an 82.6 percent free-throw shooter.

Career accolades: First team All-Conference USA (2024-25 season), first team All-Conference USA (2023-24)

Recruitment background

Indiana won a hotly contested recruitment to land Wilkerson, one of the best pure shooters in the country last season at Sam Houston.

When Wilkerson left Indiana’s campus without giving the staff his commitment and visited Kentucky, it seemed momentum had shifted to the Wildcats in his recruitment. But days later after a visit from Darian DeVries, Wilkerson made his pledge to the Hoosiers, joining DeVries, Enright and Bailey as the fourth portal addition.

“It was a pleasure to be recruited by Kentucky, but I didn’t want to go to Kentucky and just be another guy, you know, that has already been to Kentucky,” Wilkerson told Field of 68. “Hoosiers basketball, is a, it’s a big time name. And they haven’t been where they wanted to be. And, I trust coach DeVries, and what he’s bringing in, and the type of coach he is, and how he’s going to put us in position to win. And we could do this together, man, it’s just, it’s just gonna make my story better, his story better, and then Hoosier basketball will be back.”

Notes on his game

Wilkerson was one of the nation’s best 3-point shooters last season. He went 109-for-245 from distance, good for 44.5 percent. Only 12 players in Division I last season made more triples than Wilkerson, who began his career at the junior college level before transferring to Sam Houston.

From a percentage standpoint, Wilkerson ranked seventh in the country from beyond the 3-point arc.

He will slot right into Indiana’s starting backcourt and will be a centerpiece in a revamped offense that will be heavily reliant on perimeter shooting.

In addition to the 3-point shooting, Wilkerson was also efficient on 2s (50 percent) and from the free-throw line (82.5 percent).

For Indiana, winning Wilkerson’s recruitment was pivotal in keeping the ball rolling as DeVries built out his first roster this spring.

Scouting report

“Lamar Wilkerson is a tried and true sniper with positional size (6-foot-5) who has polished up his game nicely. Wilkerson has an extra year of eligibility thanks to his JUCO days. Wilkerson shot over 43 percent from 3-point range on 226 attempts. He can be used as an off-movement option. He can handle it in pick-and-rolls and create for others in a pinch. He’s improved a ton in attacking long closeouts. There are some defensive questions, but Wilkerson’s shot-making is so impressive.” – Isaac Trotter, 247Sports

“A multi-time All-Conference USA selection, Wilkerson is one of the best shooters in the portal. He drilled 45 percent of his eight 3-point attempts per game this season, hitting them off of all sorts of different actions. He also does a good job of using the threat of his shot to get free and get occasional paint touches, although at the high-major level, I think he’ll probably be best attacking close-outs. Averaging 20 points per game in Conference USA is no joke, especially when you possess this skill set. For a team in need of a serious shooter, Wilkerson will be able to step in and drill shots from distance if put in the right situations.” — C.J. Moore, The Athletic

Lamar Wilkerson highlights

Category: Commentary

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