The roster starts to fill out.
Indiana landed another piece of its backcourt via the transfer portal yesterday with the addition of Lamar Wilkerson, a senior guard from Sam Houston.
While Wilkerson is only the fifth scholarship player on the roster and one of four with college experience, it’s safe to say he will be in the starting lineup no matter how the rest of the team fills out.
Averaging 20.5 points per game and shooting 44.5% from deep on a high volume of shots made Wilkerson the no. 9 shooting guard prospect in the portal, per 247 Sports. Indiana had to beat out Kentucky and Auburn for his services.
Wilkerson went 109-245 from 3-point range last year, averaging 3.4 makes per game. For reference, Luke Goode finished the season with 62 makes from 3-point range to lead Indiana.
The Hoosiers haven’t had anyone hit more than 90 threes in a season since James Blackmon Jr. hit 91 in 2015-16.
Getting into his film after looking at his stats, it’s not surprising that Wilkerson can knock down shots any way he can get them. Catch and shoots, off his own dribble, with a defender in his face – Wilkerson is a threat whether he has space or not.
Being such a talented perimeter shooter, Wilkerson only took 23% of his shots at the rim last season, with a lot of those appearing to come in transition. He’s capable of using his dribble to create looks for himself on the perimeter, but doesn’t drive much as a shooting guard.
When he does drive, Wilkerson is a threat to score from the midrange or find an open teammate for an assist. He averaged 2.1 assists per game with a 14% assist rate as Sam Houston’s most used offensive player and leading scorer.
With the skillset that Wilkerson has, there’s really no reason to think his game won’t translate well to the high-major level. He wasn’t a guy that dominated the lower ranks with his athleticism or benefited from a unique offensive scheme that highlighted his ability.
The Bearcats had a couple of high-major opponents on the schedule last season, playing one game in Bloomington against Indiana in December and another early road game against Baylor.
Wilkerson had 18 and 19 points against those teams, respectively, shooting a combined 7-16 from 3-point range.
Part of what makes Wilkerson such a hard guard at any level of the sport is his range. He hit 20 threes from over 25 feet out last season, making him the second current Hoosier – alongside Tucker DeVries – who can score from well beyond the arc.
Look for Wilkerson to start at the two spot alongside DeVries at the three and probably Reed Bailey at the four. There are obviously starting spots to be filled alongside them, but this is the start of a roster makeover that should transform Indiana’s playing style, especially on the offensive side of the ball.