Indiana Basketball: Hoosiers target has big weekend, reaches milestone

A top Indiana basketball recruit surpassed 1,000 points and added another big performance over the weekend.

Though he isn’t flying under-the-radar, 2021 point guard Khristian Lander hasn’t seen his recruiting totally take off despite being the No. 1 point guard in the class and a top-15 player nationally.

While programs such as Louisville, Michigan, and Indiana basketball are heavily involved in his recruitment, the blue bloods like Duke, North Carolina, and Kentucky haven’t taken that next step in the process.

The Evansville Reitz guard had a slower start to his junior season than some were expecting, albeit still averaging nearly 20 points per game, but made a big splash over the weekend with a couple of big performances.

In two games, Lander averaged 29.5 points per game, including a 34-point outing on Saturday. Coming into that matchup, however, Lander reached a huge milestone on Friday night, surpassing 1,000 career points.

Lander, who has been a top priority for Archie Miller and the Hoosiers, continues to improve in many facets of the game. What he has been able to improve on most is his ability to control the game without always scoring. A great scorer on all three levels, Lander is now able to pick and choose when he wants to get his shot, a great quality to have at the point guard position.

With Indiana lacking ball handlers this season, and with no true point guard committed in the 2020 class, having ample playing time available for a program that has started to emphasize having two+ ball handlers on the floor at all times, is something that could be very appealing for Lander.

Making the 2021 in-state class a huge priority, Lander is the only point guard ranked in the top-200 in the state of Indiana.

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