Indiana Portal Additions: Lamar Wilkerson Was At His Best From The Start

Editor's note: Hoosiers On SI looks at the Indiana players Darian DeVries has brought to the team from the transfer portal and what they’ve done at their best.

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – Perhaps the most competitive fight Indiana won in the transfer portal was getting Sam Houston guard Lamar Wilkerson to come to Bloomington. Kentucky, Ole Miss and Final Four participant Auburn all wanted him. Indiana, the only non-NCAA Tournament team in the bunch, got him.

When you delve into the statistics, you begin to realize why Wilkerson was so highly coveted.

From his first game at Sam Houston – you’ll read about it below – he’s been a pure scorer. He’s almost never off of his game – his season low in points in the 2024-25 season was 11. He’s the kind of player who can put a team on his shoulders and win a game.

That’s what Indiana coach Darian DeVries hopes Wilkerson can bring to the Hoosiers. He will have the best cast around him he’s ever had to make himself or teammates better – abilities he’s already demonstrated.

Here’s a look at some examples of Wilkerson when he’s been at his best.

Big Moment

Wilkerson put up better numbers as a starter, but he gave both Sam Houston and Indiana a glimpse of what would be during his very first game for the Bearkats in 2022.

It wasn’t an easy task. Sam Houston opened the 2022-23 season at Oklahoma. At the time, the Bearkats had not beaten a Power Five team since 2009.

Wilkerson changed that. Coming off the bench, the first-year Division I player, who had gone to Sam Houston from JUCO Three Rivers College, had an electric 22 minutes.

Wilkerson went 6 of 10 from the field, including a sizzling 5 of 6 from 3-point range. He also added three steals.

Down 26-19 at halftime, Wilkerson scored all 17 of his points in the second half. He saved his best for last as he received a feed from teammate Qua Grant to bury a corner 3-pointer to send Sam Houston to a 52-51 win over the Sooners.

It was a stunning debut for the Ashdown, Ark., native.

Scoring

During his three seasons at Sam Houston, Wilkerson topped the 20-point mark 25 times. He just missed reaching that mark when Sam Houston played Indiana in December as he tallied 18 points.

His highest-scoring effort was in a late-season contest against New Mexico State in March. Wilkerson scored 32 points, including a 7-of-10 performance from 3-point range. Sam Houston defeated New Mexico State 76-69 in the regular season finale for both teams.

Wilkerson shoots the ball a lot, but he makes his fair share. He’s topped the 50% mark 34 times in games when he had five or more field goal attempts. His single-game best was a 9-for-11 performance against Trinity in November.

The most field goals Wilkerson has made in a game is 12. He did it twice in consecutive games in March. He made 12 buckets against UTEP and in his 32-point game against New Mexico State.

In 22 of 34 games where he was over 50% or more on five or more field goal attempts, he also was over 50% from 3-point range. His career-best accuracy was a 7-of-8 performance in a different game against New Mexico State in 2024.

Wilkerson’s single-game record for threes made in a game is eight – against Texas Southern in December in the game after the Bearkats played at Indiana.

Wilkerson has had 36 games where he didn’t miss a free throw. He made 6 of 6 in a February game against Florida International.

Conerway is a career 68.9% free throw shooter, but he’s had his moments. He made 13 of 14 in a game against Louisiana in 2024. His best performance without a miss was 6-for-6 against SIU-Edwardsville in 2023.

Other Statistics Of Note

Sam Houston State Bearkats guard Lamar Wilkerson (3) shoots against Pittsburgh Panthers forward Zack Austin (55) during the second half at the Petersen Events Center. | Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images

Wilkerson has only one career double-double. He had 14 points and 10 rebounds in a February win over Western Kentucky. That game was one of his two contests where he had 10 rebounds.

Wilkerson is usually on the receiving end of passes, but in that same game against Western Kentucky in February he had a career-best seven assists.

Wilkerson has reached his career-high of four steals three times, most recently in Sam Houston’s Conference USA Tournament loss to UTEP in March.

Wilkerson’s best career overall game, as determined by sports-reference.com’s game score, was his 32-point, five-assist effort against New Mexico State. He had a score of 26.8 in that contest.

Advanced Superlatives

Wilkerson naturally rates high in scoring-based advanced metrics. He had an offensive box-plus minus of 6.9 in 2025, a very good number.

Using the win shares measure, Wilkerson earned 4.5 win shares overall in 2025, 3.7 of which came in offensive win shares.

One statistic that did jump notably in 2025 was Wilkerson’s assist rate. He jumped up to 13.6% - before that, he had never broken double digits.

So Wilkerson can pass, but Indiana also will be counting on Wilkerson to get passes. When he gets the ball, good things happen.

Big Moment

Scoring

Other Statistics Of Note

Advanced Superlatives

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