Indiana’s biggest transfer addition just had the major breakout he desperately needed

It was no surprise when Indiana head coach Darian DeVries brought his son Tucker with him from West Virginia, but it wasn’t exactly a shoo-in that DeVries would win a recruiting battle with Kentucky and other powerhouse programs for Sam Houston State transfer Lamar Wilkerson. Wilkerson was a major get, and after an up-and-down start to his career as a Hoosier, he showed why on Tuesday night. 

Even amid Indiana’s 7-0 start to the 2025-26 season, Wilkerson struggled to find a consistent rhythm. Then, through the Hoosiers’ back-to-back losses to Minnesota and Louisville, he just flat out struggled, shooting well under 40 percent from the field in both outings. 

Tuesday, everything started to go down as Wilkerson led the Hoosiers to a 113-72 win over Penn State with 44 points in just 24 minutes. He set an Indiana program record with 10 threes in a game, finishing 10-for-15 from beyond the arc, and adding four rebounds, four assists, and three steals before calling it a night early in the second half. 

Lamar Wilkerson sets Indiana program record with 10 made threes in 113-72 win over Penn State

Wilkerson is a 40 percent three-point shooter for his career on 5.6 attempts, and that type of shooting volume is what DeVries was after in the portal this offseason. So, it shouldn’t be a shock that two of Wilkerson’s worst games of the year coincided with Indiana’s first two losses. 

Indiana needed Wilkerson to get back on track, and a breakout game like this could set the course for him to be one of the most prolific three-point shooters in the country this year. 

While Wikerson has the requisite size to play in the Big Ten at 6-foot-6, 205-pounds, sometimes the speed of the game at a higher level takes a moment to adjust to. Perhaps that was the case for Wilkerson, or perhaps he just went cold for a few games. Either way, Tuesday night catapulted him to 18.8 points per game, IU’s leading scorer, and shooting splits of 47/43/79. 

The spacing that a wing shooter like that creates, along with Tucker DeVries knocking down 40 percent of his 8.6 attempts this season, has allowed Indiana to be one of the more efficient offenses in the country. Wilkerson’s shooting gravity will afford Indiana’s guards bigger driving lanes, and its big more space in the post. That’s how DeVries constructed this roster, around two oversized wing shooters in Wilkerson and Tucker DeVries, and it’s clear now that he hit on both. 

Darian DeVries needs Wilkerson to stay hot through Saturday because the Hoosiers have a significantly more difficult test as they head to Lexington to take on Kentucky at Rupp Arena.