The top recruiting target on the board is a Hoosier.
Class of 2021 Evansville, Ind. based point guard Khristian Lander has committed to Indiana.
The five-star point guard made the announcement on his Twitter account on Tuesday evening.
https://twitter.com/khristianlander/status/1232485320177803268?s=20
Lander chose IU over Louisville, Michigan and Memphis.
The 6-foot-2 point guard is the No. 1 player in the state of Indiana and the No. 1 point guard nationally in the class of 2021 according to the 247Sports Composite. He is the No. 11 overall player in the country in the 2021 class according to that same service.
247Sports national analyst Jerry Meyer provided this assessment of Lander on his profile page:
“Average size for a point guard. Left handed. Both a smooth and explosive athlete. Has a tremendous burst to the rim off the dribble. Creative ball handler and finisher. Good passer as well. Streaky outside shooter at this point. Rebounds his position. Has potential to be high quality defender.”
Lander is Indiana’s first commit in the class of 2021, but he could join the Hoosiers in 2020.
As we first reported in October, Lander, a junior at F.J. Reitz High School, is evaluating reclassifying into the class of 2020.
According to Nick Baumgart of Rivals, Lander has classes to complete in order to graduate early, but he expects both Indiana and Lander to make a strong push towards the guard joining IU this fall.
Either way, IU head coach Archie Miller has demonstrated once again that he can deliver on his “inside out” commitment to recruiting the state of Indiana.
Lander cited Indiana’s consistent effort as the key to his decision in an interview with the Bloomington Herald Times.
“I just feel like they never acted different, no matter what type of recruits they could have gotten. They stayed consistent,” Lander told the Bloomington Herald Times. “And the loyalty thing is real big for me.”
Lander follows Romeo Langford, Rob Phinisee, Damezi Anderson, Trayce Jackson-Davis, Armaan Franklin, Anthony Leal and Trey Galloway as in-state recruits that Miller has successfully landed in his first four recruiting classes at IU.
According to his 247Sports rating, Lander is the fourth highest recruit that Indiana has landed in the rankings era behind only Eric Gordon, Romeo Langford and Noah Vonleh.
Lander was an Indiana guest on Sunday when the Hoosiers knocked off No. 9 Penn State. He sat next to former AAU teammate Leal at the game. Galloway was also a teammate of Lander. The trio played for Indiana Elite on the Adidas circuit.
#iubb 5-star recruiting target Khristian Lander here sitting next to former AAU teammate and IU signee Anthony Leal. Also here is 2022 Westfield, Ind. PG Braden Smith. pic.twitter.com/730hGI61iL
— Mike Schumann @ The Daily Hoosier (@daily_hoosier) February 23, 2020
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