'Me being me.' Lamar Wilkerson showed Indiana basketball why he was a high-profile transfer

Indianapolis Star

9 hours ago

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico — Lamar Wilkerson smiled a knowing half-smile Saturday night, as he listened to the last question of his postgame session with assembled media inside Coliseo Roberto Clemente.
Wilkerson spoke in the minutes following a remarkable turnaround win from Indiana, which trailed by as many as 23 points in the first half against Serbian club side Mega Superbasket before rallying to win 93-71.
The redshirt senior Sam Houston State transfer had played a pivotal role in that comeback, scoring a team-best 18 points. Fully 13 of those had come during the second half that saw the Hoosiers — now 2-0 on this trip — outscore their opponents 58-23.
They were Wilkerson's best minutes of the preseason so far. Immersed in the flow of Indiana's high-gear offense, he moved fluidly with and without the ball, and when he stepped into shots or ball fakes leading to scores off the bounce, all his movements looked fixed, smooth and effortless.
'It's just like being,' Wilkerson said, 'in an empty gym. I don't see nobody.
'It's just me being me.'
Indiana will need that all winter long.
Wilkerson was among the most high-profile new faces added during Darian DeVries' spring roster makeover. He averaged better than 20 points per game last season with the Bearkats, and was widely regarded among the most dangerous shooters in the transfer portal during this cycle.
When he signed with Indiana over, among others, Kentucky, it was seen as a major coup for DeVries in his earliest weeks on the job. On the evidence of the Hoosiers' first two preseason games in Puerto Rico, DeVries' hard work bringing Wilkerson to Bloomington was not wasted.
'Lamar,' DeVries said afterward with a smile, 'can shoot as many times as he wants.'
That range did not find Wilkerson in IU's first game here, a 51-point blowout of Central Universidad de Bayamon on Wednesday.
Wilkerson finished that game 3 of 14, and 3 of 13 from 3, struggling for that familiar rhythm before giving way to teammates with hotter hands.
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DeVries joked after the Bayamon win that he 'kind of like(d) the fact that (Wilkerson) struggled shooting.'
'Because he doesn't struggle very often,' DeVries explained, 'so this is a good one to get out of the way.'
Wilkerson struggled like Indiana did in Saturday's first quarter, trying to get to grips with Mega Superbet's length and physicality. Indeed, he reached halftime — by which point the Hoosiers had at least steadied themselves, trimming a 23-point deficit to 13 — with only five points on three field goal attempts.
But as IU's momentum built, so did Wilkerson's confidence. Hand in hand, the Hoosiers' control of Saturday's game extended as their most dangerous scorer found that empty-gym feeling.
'I have ultimate faith in Lamar making shots,' DeVries said postgame Saturday. 'I think you saw a glimpse of why we do in that second half. He can just change a game in two, three possessions. He can go 0 for 4 to 4 for 8, 6 for 10 in a hurry.'
Ultimately, Wilkerson finished 7 of 11 from the floor. He made 4 of 7 3s. His 18 points were a team- and a co-game-high.
On an evening when multiple Hoosiers ignited the many small runs that eventually added up to a 70-19 turnaround on the scoreboard, Wilkerson showcased to assembled fans — both IU and local — why his teammates and coaches believe he is so dangerous.
'It felt good,' Wilkerson said, 'for all of our pieces to fall (into place) together, all of us stay together and make that run.'
In that way, Wilkerson signified something wider about Indiana on Saturday too.
The change in offensive emphasis across these two games has not been surprising. Little about DeVries' fast-paced, open-floor offensive philosophy ever bore resemblance to the more methodical, post-driven approach IU took under Mike Woodson.
But there's preaching spacing and shooting, and there's actually following through on it. Even when shots aren't falling, like they weren't Wednesday. Or when it's not stopping the bleeding, like it wasn't in the first quarter Saturday.
Indiana didn't recruit a roster of shooters on the idea of 3-point shooting, but the act of it. DeVries believes it is central to their identity and their success, no matter the circumstance.
'We have a lot of faith in our shooters,' he said. 'We want them to play with confidence.'
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Which made Wilkerson's observation Saturday — that it was beneficial for IU to experience this kind of game — a fair one.
'We'd rather get punched in the mouth right now,' he said, 'than in March.'
DeVries might be pleased with the results so far in Puerto Rico. He should certainly be pleased with the method to getting there, and his team's willingness to respond to his coaching and stick to his principles, no matter the weather.
And, while the sample size is small, that certainly appears to apply to Wilkerson, a player who might wind up as important as any Hoosier this season.