Factory Worker to Superstar: Lamar Wilkerson went on an incredible journey to Indiana

Whether it is as a college basketball player, or in life in general, nobody’s path is ever the same when they reach the destination they are currently at. For Indiana senior guard Lamar Wilkerson, that statement holds very much true.

Right now, and rightfully so, Lamar Wilkerson is viewed as the superstar for the Indiana Hoosiers as the 2025-26 season approaches. He was that one major get that Darian DeVries secured in his first offseason as the new Indiana head coach and would eventually build his team around.

There may not have been a more popular player in the transfer portal than Lamar Wilkerson, arguably the top shooter available. Every Blue Blood in the country was after him, but in the end, he chose Indiana.

In the end, the Hoosiers got their superstar in Lamar Wilkerson, but every basketball superstar comes from somewhere, and 9 times out of 10, it’s from humble beginnings. Lamar Wilkerson is no different. He wasn’t the five-star McDonald’s All-American coming out of high school or even a D1 recruit at that. No, Lamar Wilkerson was a small school prospect coming out of high school, opting to go the D2 route.

Just like in everyone’s path, however, life throws curveballs. A big one was thrown at Lamar Wilkerson, and there was even a possibility he would not make it to the D2 level, let alone play college basketball at any level.

“So basically, my D2 coach, I committed to D2 in Tahlequah, Oklahoma, he left, went to Arkansas Tech, called me, was like, hey, you want to come to Arkansas Tech? I was trying to get out of Arkansas, so I was like, no. So then I was reopening my recruitment,” said Lamar Wilkerson on the Field of 68.

“And then after I reopened my recruitment, everything was slow, wasn’t nobody reaching out, wasn’t nobody calling. So I was like, OK, I’m just going to get a job, you know, try to stack some money up.”

“Yeah, I was working at Husqvarna in Nashville, Arkansas, man,” said Lamar Wilkerson. “I was building chainsaws. I was building lawn mowers, leaf blowers, and everything for a month and then I found out real quick that that’s not the route I wanted to go. I couldn’t do it, man. 12-hour shifts on an assembly line, yeah, I couldn’t do it, man.”

It would have been a travesty for someone as talented a basketball player as Lamar Wilkerson was to not have found the path to get another opportunity to play at the college level.

D1 was no longer on the radar, his D2 window had closed, but the JUCO route was still a possibility and, by pure luck, Wilkerson found the path to get him back on the hardwood.

“I called one of my homeboys, and we were just talking about what he was going to do, because he was going to go JUCO, and he committed…and he was like, yeah, I’m seeing you went D2. And I was like, actually…..really don’t got nothing. He was like, for real? He’s like, hold on, give me five minutes.”

“Coach (Bryan) Shearer called me in the next 10 minutes, was like, hey, come out next two weeks. And so after that, I went to Poplar Bluff, and then everything’s been history since then.”

It took Lamar Wilkerson a bit to get his basketball legs back due to an injury he sustained his freshman season, but by the end of his JUCO run in Poplar Bluff, Missouri, he showcased what was to come. Wilkerson earned honorable mention All-American honors at Three Rivers and averaged 16.7 points and 4.5 rebounds per game.

Just like with most JUCO products, the goal is to go up a level in college as quickly as possible, as JUCO is normally the path most players take if they have no opportunities at the D1 or D2 level.

The JUCO path Wilkerson walked ultimately led him to the D1 level and a chance to play for Sam Houston State in Texas.

“So my first year, I got hurt, I almost blew my knee out, so I had to go back another year and then, Cody Hopkins (JUCO Scout) actually saw me and was like, hey man, I need you to come to Atlanta, Georgia for this JUCO Showcase. I went up there, you know, did what I had to do.” 

“Justin Bailey (Indiana Director of Player Personnel, former Sam Houston assistant coach) saw me, and ever since then we built a relationship. I built a relationship with all the coaches at Sam Houston, and then they took a risk on me, and then it just turned out to happen the right way.”

Wilkerson would go on to play three seasons at Sam Houston State, where he further proved that he was a D1 prospect all along. At Sam Houston State, he would become a two-time All-Conference USA First Team member, with last season seeing him average 20.5 points per game while shooting 47.7% from the field, which included 44.5% from three.

(On3+): Indiana Basketball Player Focus: Lamar Wilkerson

After a very wild and unique path that Lamar Wilkerson went on, the sharpshooter’s journey would land him in Bloomington, Indiana. He went from being an afterthought by most, to a player nearly every blue blood program wanted on their roster.

“I’m grateful for the opportunity that I had to get recruited by the top blue bloods,” said Lamar Wilkerson when he committed to the Hoosiers. “Indiana just felt like home — I’m ready to bring Hoosier basketball back.”

If Lamar Wilkerson’s story is anything, it shows that everyone has a different journey to get to the final destination. Things change in an instant, and you have to adapt to the cards you are dealt on a daily basis.

Wilkerson has faced enough adversity in life to be ready to lead Indiana this upcoming season. No matter how talented of a shooter and scorer he is, the most important thing is that Wilkerson is ready for this moment — to be the superstar he has earned the right to be.

“Man, for me it’s just, you know, you just gotta, the sky’s the limit, man, like, everybody can tell you this, tell you that, but as long as you have a dream and you have tunnel vision to try to reach that dream, man, anything’s possible. That’s what this year has shown me, man, everybody’s path different,” said Wilkerson.

“It may not be the easiest route,” Wilkerson added. “It may not happen when you want it to but as long as you work and you just stay true to what you believe in man, and believe in yourself and it’s possible.”

Below is the full episode of the Field of 68’s show at Indiana.

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