(2021) PG Khristian Lander to Western Kentucky U.

[Old Friend 8,389]

2 hours ago, cthomas said:

The reality is that we will have to start performing on the court like a perennial top ten team before this and future generations of kids start viewing us that way. Currently, our realistic recruiting shopping list rarely includes kids who receive offers from the Dukes, Kentuckys, UNCs, and etc. More often than not, unless the check is really big, kids who can go anywhere they want go where they can realistically have a shot at a national title. Honestly, I can't blame them.

I'll yin to your yang a little.   In a prior thread, most people who replied agreed that a better strategy at Indiana was "get old and stay old."  The talent differential of a 4* kid who is a senior in college vs. a 5* kid who's a freshman in college is negligible at worst, and favors the older, more experienced player at best.

I have no interest and I don't think Archie has an interest in recruiting kids who are NBA bound before they ever hit college campuses.  The pressure of that - a need to be successful with multiple top kids every year - is not bearable for any coach nor program who's not doing that successfully already.   Recruiting those players wouldn't be successful at Eastern Wyoming any more than it would be at Indiana.

My bigger point is this.  Archie Miller has landed 2 consecutive Indiana Mr. Basketball winners (Langford and Jackson-Davis), and has likely landed a 3rd as I think Leal is the one to beat this season if not Galloway).   He landed Ohio's Mr. Basketball a year ago.  His list of recruits is full of 4* players...all of whom look to be at least contenders at Indiana - meaning we might land them.   

Indiana plays in a different world than Duke.  Than Kentucky.  I'm not sure I agree with North Carolina because they tend to have more experienced players; and I think Indiana will soon be on that level.   I don't think Archie wants to go down a path of having to land several top-tier recruits year in and year out.  That's one formula, but I don't think that's Indiana's formula.  Virginia, Michigan State, Michigan, Wisconsin, and others have shown the OTHER formula - recruit good players who stay, get old and stay old - works just as well if not better in some cases.  Texas Tech had a shot last season and they didn't have a single top 100 recruit.  What they DID have?  Really smart basketball players; experience; length; depth; shooters; and good defenders.  31-7.   But...statistically?   They were very average.  They weren't the best at anything except shooting % on both sides of the ball, which is a big one I realize.  They didn't dominate anything in their own conference, let alone nationally.  But....they were an absolute b!tch to play against because the pieces fit and they were able to play within Chris Beard's system and thrive in it.   I think Indiana is building something similar, and I think there's a reason many "top names" don't include Indiana on their list.  I'm not sure I really care very much.

My point in that is building a program around older players makes the pieces fit on a more regular basis than trying to find immediate contributors year in and year out.   It took Archie maybe an extra year to get this right; and I think early on he was trying to recruit a different way than he is now.  I suspect you will all be very happy with Indiana's program if you'll just let it play out.   And thank me later.   =)

So.....I guess I think it doesn't matter how some top tier recruits view Indiana.  5 years ago, Indiana sent 2 of the top 4 picks to the NBA draft.  Victor Oladipo by himself has made Indiana University cool again in the eyes of local college recruits, and I know that because I hear it relatively often.  IU is on their radar; and Archie is landing those players.  He is also having relative success outside the state, and is obviously attractive to very good players.  

[cthomas 5,917]

I wasn't advocating for the the one and done players at all. I really like the direction CAM is going and how the program is being built. If Lander wants an offer from Duke, then I'm not sure he fits what Indiana is trying to do. I was trying to say that those type of players don't view IU as being on the same level as the perennial top ten programs. And, won't until our on court performance is similar. Personally, I like watching kids develop over three or four years and getting to know them a little bit. I like the continuity that comes from kids playing together over time. As much as I liked Langford, he didn't help at all in terms of building the program in my opinion. I get that CAM had to recruit Romeo, but the timing was all wrong for a player like him. This is the long way around of saying I believe that getting old and staying old is best approach for IU.

[MoyeNeeded 3,073]

1 hour ago, cthomas said:

I wasn't advocating for the the one and done players at all. I really like the direction CAM is going and how the program is being built. If Lander wants an offer from Duke, then I'm not sure he fits what Indiana is trying to do. I was trying to say that those type of players don't view IU as being on the same level as the perennial top ten programs. And, won't until our on court performance is similar. Personally, I like watching kids develop over three or four years and getting to know them a little bit. I like the continuity that comes from kids playing together over time. As much as I liked Langford, he didn't help at all in terms of building the program in my opinion. I get that CAM had to recruit Romeo, but the timing was all wrong for a player like him. This is the long way around of saying I believe that getting old and staying old is best approach for IU.

I don't think we get TJD if Romeo would have went elsewhere. Pulling the state's best had to start somewhere.

[cthomas 5,917]

1 hour ago, MoyeNeeded said:

I don't think we get TJD if Romeo would have went elsewhere. Pulling the state's best had to start somewhere.

You may very well be right. I'm just saying that he didn't really help us as much on the court as maybe a three year recruit might have. I'm happy we got for optics if nothing else. But we were not in a place where he was a difference maker for last years team.

[Class of '66 Old Fart 80,940]

Gordon Engelhardt - Evansville Courier & Press

Khristian Lander’s mom still makes him take out the trash. His grandfather, Randall, texts him every day. Their message to the hoops phenom: Stay humble.

But it’s difficult when you’re considered perhaps the next Romeo Langford, or the best boys’ basketball player from Evansville since Calbert Cheaney and Walter McCarty.

“Yeah, I talked to Walt during the summer,” said Lander, a 6-foot-3 point guard from Reitz who is a 5-star recruit and considered the No. 11 player nationally in the Class of 2021 by 24x7sports and No. 13 player by rivals.com.  “I talked to Calbert on my IU visit and he gave me some pretty good advice. He was telling me about his experiences, what they had at IU.”

McCarty watched a handful of Lander’s Indiana Elite AAU games in the summer and told him what he was doing well and what areas in which he needed to improve. Lander has received 16 scholarship offers, including Indiana, Purdue, Kansas, Louisville, Michigan, Illinois and Ohio State. Memphis was the most recent school to offer, earlier this month.

Bosse’s Shane Burkhart, who has coached JaQuan Lyle and Mekhi Lairy and currently mentors Kiyron Powell, knows a little about Division I-level talent. But Lander is headed for the stratosphere.

“Lander is a once in a lifetime talent,” Burkhart said. “He really has taken his game to another level – one of which I don’t know if we have seen around here in a while.”

Burkhart said Lander’s recruiting is about to explode “on the biggest level there is with all the true ‘blue bloods.’ He already has Louisville and Memphis. North Carolina, Duke, Kentucky and Michigan State, these schools are going to come knocking on his door if they haven’t already.”

Burkhart noted that Lander was invited to USA Basketball's Junior National minicamp in July.

“He is just a phenomenal player whose upside is through the roof,” Burkhart said. “I can’t wait to see him take Reitz to some spectacular levels.”

Brandi Lander thought her son was a little arrogant in sixth and seventh grade. But she is proud of the way he has matured and how he has handled all the adulation.

“I just feel like I’m a pretty humble person,” said Lander, who averaged 22.2 points, 4.2 rebounds and 4.9 assists last season. “I don’t let all the attention get to me.”

Khristian knows his grandfather, Randall Lander Sr., a minister at Dove Chapel on the West Side, will never stop texting him to keep his head on straight. Khristian said he acts the same way he did before all the offers from big-time schools starting flooding in. Lander, however, did allow that getting all the attention was “pretty cool.”

He said when the adulation began to accelerate it was difficult.

“The pressure was hard the first time,” Lander said. “Now, I’m starting to take it all in.”

A student with a 3.8 grade-point average, Lander plans to major in mechanical engineering. He is accomplished enough along academically that he would only need to take a handful of classes next summer to graduate a year early and go directly to college -- if that's what he wants to do. However, the wiry 166-pounder needs to gain strength to make an early leap to college ball.

“All the other aspects of my game are pretty solid right now,” Lander said.

As for Reitz and improving immensely after a 12-12 season a year ago, Lander didn’t mince words.

“I feel like this year we shouldn’t lose to anyone. in my opinion,” he said. “We’re getting everything together, getting everything down.”

Trained by former Harrison track standout Chris Clark, the silky smooth left-hander with multicolored hair lets his flamboyant game speak for itself. Lightning quick off the bounce, Lander is a streaky shooter from long distance. 

If all of that isn't enough, he works out with Jackie Young whenever she comes to town. Young, the state’s all-time leading girls’ scorer with 3,268 points, helped lead Princeton to the 2015 3A state title and Notre Dame to the 2018 NCAA championship. She was the No. 1 overall pick in last summer’s WNBA draft by the Las Vegas Aces.

“She’s still humble,” Khristian said. “I met her during her junior year in high school. She’s a pro now."

First and foremost, Brandi Lander repeatedly emphasized that her son plans on concentrating exclusively on his junior year at Reitz.

“That’s his No. 1 priority,” she said.

He isn’t thinking about whether he will graduate a year early.

“I take everything as a learning experience in everything I do,” Khristian said. “Everything is going to come to me.”

[ElectricBoogaloo 4,293]

We don’t have a mechanical engineering program. So there’s that. 

[Hovadipo 52,926]

1 minute ago, ElectricBoogaloo said:

We don’t have a mechanical engineering program. So there’s that. 

Maybe Fred can get McBobby to take some more BTN money to start one real quick. 

[Brass Cannon 24,064]

8 minutes ago, Hovadipo said:

Maybe Fred can get McBobby to take some more BTN money to start one real quick. 

Doesn’t IUPUI have one?

[Hovadipo 52,926]

1 minute ago, Brass Cannon said:

Doesn’t IUPUI have one?

Looks like it. They have to be a dark horse in this recruitment now imo. 

[DChoosier 7,054]

12 minutes ago, ElectricBoogaloo said:

We don’t have a mechanical engineering program. So there’s that. 

He will only have to worry about that if he thinks he can get a mechanical engineering degree in one year :) 

[Brass Cannon 24,064]

Just now, Hovadipo said:

Looks like it. They have to be a dark horse in this recruitment now imo. 

Well I meant he’s only going to college 1 year anyway. And all credits transfer...

[Class of '66 Old Fart 80,940]

If Lander's career takes him to the NBA he'll need a busiess degree more than he'll need a degree in mechanical engineering.

[Honkyman 1,670]

Lander plans on studying mechanical engineering? I guess he's going to Purdue then. Or maybe MIT.

[mamasa 14,818]

Lander plans on studying mechanical engineering? I guess he's going to Purdue then. Or maybe MIT.

Michigan and Northwestern are generally ranked higher for mechanical engineering than Purdue.


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[Walking Boot of Doom 18,170]

Kid isn’t going to get his mechanical engineering degree until years and years after he’s had a very significant NBA career.

Moving on.

[Alford Bailey 12,246]

Is Lander a consensus 1 and done?

[Uspshoosier 44,205]

Is Lander a consensus 1 and done?

I Haven’t seen one report on him that says he is a 1 and done


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[AKHoosier 6,559]

Supposedly we're waaaaaaay behind Michigan and Louisville right now.

Probably better hope Michigan loses some of its luster, and Louisville undergoes another scandal pretty soon.

[WayneFleekHoosier 46,726]

Supposedly we're waaaaaaay behind Michigan and Louisville right now.
Probably better hope Michigan loses some of its luster, and Louisville undergoes another scandal pretty soon.

Archie’s recruiting hasn’t been that fantastic. In state has been pretty strong but overall class rankings really tell the story.

Kentucky has 6 recruits for 2020. SIX. Four 5 stars and two 4 stars. Only 5 starters. Likely only 8 man rotation yet they continue to flock to UK.

Maybe losing in recruiting will mean winning on the court but that is not how it generally works.


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[HoosierAloha 29,887]

Archie’s recruiting hasn’t been that fantastic. In state has been pretty strong but overall class rankings really tell the story.

Kentucky has 6 recruits for 2020. SIX. Four 5 stars and two 4 stars. Only 5 starters. Likely only 8 man rotation yet they continue to flock to UK.

Maybe losing in recruiting will mean winning on the court but that is not how it generally works.


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They’re going to puke because it’s the only way to make it to the league...


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