On Lander's First Day at Indiana, Wondering What His Legacy Will Be on His Last Day?
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. — And so it begins. Khristian Lander set foot on the Indiana campus on Sunday, moving into his apartment and officially becoming the last piece of the Hoosiers' 2020 recruiting class to arrive.
Now, with all hands on deck, it's full steam ahead.
Everyone's been wondering when Lander, a 5-star point guard from Evansville, Ind., would make it to Bloomington. It's been a whirlwind few months for the 6-foot-2 point guard, who committed to Archie Miller and the Hoosiers on Feb. 26. The next month he discussed his desire to reclassify into the Class of 2020 and in April, during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, the NCAA made it easier to become eligible as well.
Lander, an excellent student, worked hard to finish early and graduated from Reitz High School and set his sights on moving to Bloomington as quickly as possible. That happened on Sunday. Now all four recruits in the class — Lander plus Trey Galloway, Anthony Leal and Jordan Geronimo — are all rooming together and ready to get to work. They were the 16th-ranked class nationally in the final 247Sports composite rankings.
When a 5-star recruit lands on your front door, it raises the bar of expectations immediately. And in basketball-crazed Indiana, that sends the frenzy off the charts, of course.
Lander is the ninth 5-star recruit to commit to Indiana since 2004, and just the second point guard along with Yogi Ferrell. And even though it might be a bit unfair on his first day of campus, it's not unrealistic to ponder what Lander's legacy might be at Indiana.
When he has his last day on campus, whenever that may be, will he be on Indiana's point guard Mount Rushmore?
There are a lot of people, Archie Miller included, who sure hope so. And, quite frankly, there is still a spot open.
Two faces are firmly ensconced on that Mount Rushmore, Indiana Hall of Famers Isiah Thomas and Quinn Buckner, great leaders, great players and, of course, both national champions. Yogi Ferrell, with two Big Ten titles, a No, 1 national ranking and the school's all-time assists record, is on there, too.
When it's all said and done, does Lander — who has ALL the tools — join that group?
During the Bob Knight era, guys were more just "guards,'' not point guards and shooting guards, per se. It was true of Buckner as well, sort of, because his running mate Bobby Wilkerson actually led the unbeaten 1976 team in assists. That's why that next group — Keith Smart, Michael Lewis, Tom Coverdale, Jamal Meeks and even Damon Bailey among others — rank high in various Indiana assist categories, but do we really call any of them true point guards?
And do we call any of them Mount Rushmore candidates?
The idea of Lander's legacy popped up because last week his hometown newspaper, the Evansville Courier & Press, wrote a story about Lander's legacy there, and whether he did enough to be on that city's Mount Rushmore despite missing out on his senior year. He would been a lock to join Evansville legends Bob Ford, Calbert Cheaney and Walter McCarty had he stayed for his senior year.
Khristian Lander and his family on move-in day on Sunday.
But that Rushmore thing now switches cities, to Bloomington. Everyone raves about Lander's skills, including Miller, who has recruited three straight Indiana Mr. Basketball's — Romeo Langford, Trayce Jackson-Davis and Anthony Leal — and Lander might have been the fourth next year had he stayed in high school.
When the reclassification looked like it might be an option, Miller was all-in because he knew how special Lander was when he saw him competing with many of the best players in the country at a USA Basketball event last summer in Colorado Springs.
“I thought he was going to be absolutely terrific. I watched his work ethic in their practice and their drills, and I watched him compete in that environment, and I said to myself, he’s ready right now,” Miller said.
Lander, a left-hander, is lightning fast with the ball in his hands and his floor vision is off the charts. He's also a good perimeter shooter, and is exactly the type of player that Miller would prefer to run his offense. The Hoosiers were probably a middle-of-the-pack Big Ten team in 2021 without him, but now could be good enough to content for a conference crown. Indiana is a likely top-25 team now, and the potential to be even better is clearly obvious in many eyes.
By reclassifying, it's easy to assume that Lander will at least stay a couple of years minimum in Bloomington. Isiah Thomas, a true once-in-a-lifetime player, played only two years at Indiana. Buckner and Ferrell played four.
Can he be one of the all-time greats? It's not meant to add pressure, because Lander already has talked often about wanting to be great. And yes, I know that's a lot to ask when he probably still hasn't even unpacked his suitcases.
It's also very unfair, I know that, too.
But if we are to believe that the fourth year of the Archie Miller era is going to be even better, then Lander will play a huge role in that. There's plenty of talent back, led by Jackson-Davis. If Rob Phinisee stays healthy all year, the point guard spot is covered with great talent all 40 minutes, something that's never happened at any time in the first 98 games of Miller's time in Bloomington.
And the two absolutely can play together, there's no doubt about that. For instance, Ferrell, the point guard on a loaded team in 2013, averaged 7.4 points and a team-high 4.1 assists. Lander's numbers, if I had to guess, will exceed that next year, especially the points.
Those five stars, they bring with it great expectations. There's a lot that will go between now and November, but all of Hoosier Nation can't wait to see Lander on the floor, running the show.
It might wind up being something that's truly memorable.
