Indiana's Lamar Wilkerson explains decision to donate NIL dollars to Sam Houston State after transfer

After a standout junior season at Sam Houston State in 2024-25, Lamar Wilkerson became one of Darian DeVries’ key transfer portal pickups at Indiana. But he still wanted to find a way to give back to his former program using NIL dollars.

Wilkerson made a six-figure donation to Sam Houston State shortly after arriving in Bloomington, he told Jeff Goodman and Rob Dauster on The Field of 68. When asked about that decision, the highly rated transfer guard said it was a way to express his gratitude to the program that developed him.

Wilkerson averaged 20.8 points for Sam Houston last year. That helped make him one of the coveted guards in the portal this past cycle as he committed to Indiana.

“I did it out of love, man,” Wilkerson said. “I did it out of love for Coach [Chris] Mudge, for just Sam Houston. I’d been there for three years, so it was home for me. I got comfortable there, I built a family with a lot of people, a lot of donors and everything.

“So I just gave back because I felt like I want to see their program strive. I want to keep seeing them get better over time. I was [willing] to help.”

Wilkerson came largely off the bench as a freshman at Sam Houston in 2022-23 before becoming a full-time starter in 2023-24. He saw his scoring increase from 7.4 points per game to 13.8 over that time. He also added 3.6 rebounds and 1.4 assists as a sophomore, along with a steal per game on defense.

In 2024-25, Wilkerson became one of the nation’s top scorers. His 20.5 points per game ranked 11th in the nation, and he also set new career-highs with 4.0 rebounds, 2.1 assists and 1.1 steals. He also shot 44.5% from three-point territory.

After entering the portal, Lamar Wilkerson became the No. 34 overall player and No. 8-ranked shooting guard in the On3 Industry Transfer Rankings. He served as a central part of Indiana’s overhauled roster as DeVries takes over for Mike Woodson as the Hoosiers’ head coach.

“Lamar can shoot as many times as he wants. I have ultimate faith in Lamar making shots,” said DeVries after Indiana’s second game of its exhibition trip to Puerto Rico last month. “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, 4-for-8, 6-for-10 in a hurry.”