Kentucky target Lamar Wilkerson commits to Indiana

Kentucky’s top remaining portal target is off the board — and he will not be a Wildcat. Coming off an official visit to Lexington, Sam Houston State transfer Lamar Wilkerson cut his list to two schools with UK joining Indiana as the finalists.

NEWS: Sam Houston transfer guard Lamar Wilkerson, one of the nation’s top shooters, has committed to Indiana, source tells @On3sports.

The 6-5 senior averaged 20.5 points per game this season, shooting 44.5% from three. https://t.co/w2ZF9eq3MW pic.twitter.com/xwhhIETS9M
— Joe Tipton (@TiptonEdits) April 15, 2025

Wilkerson previously considered the likes of Auburn, Ole Miss and Arkansas before narrowing it down to the Wildcats and Hoosiers. He took a trip to Bloomington before his Lexington visit, then canceled all remaining visits to prepare for a final decision.

After returning home to sleep on it, the standout guard decided to rock the candy stripes instead of the blue and white.

“I’m grateful for the opportunity I had to be recruited by the top blue bloods in the country,” he told The Field of 68. “It was a hard decision, but Indiana felt like home. I’m ready to bring Hoosier basketball back, man.”

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Why not Kentucky? He said it was because he didn’t want to be one of several go-to pieces on the roster — while adding that the Indiana staff flew out to see him one last time before making a final decision.

“It was a pleasure to be recruited by Kentucky, but I didn’t want to go to Kentucky and just be another guy,” Wilkerson said. “Hoosiers basketball is a big-time name and they haven’t been where they wanted to be. I trust Coach (Darian) DeVries and what he’s bringing in, the type of coach he is and how he’s going to put us in position to win. … Hoosier basketball will be back.”

Where does Kentucky turn after missing out on Wilkerson, who averaged 20.5 points, 4.0 rebounds, 2.1 assists and 1.1 steals per contest while shooting 47.7 percent from the field and 44.5 percent from three in 2024-25? That remains to be seen — they previously pivoted from top targets such as Wesley Yates III and Jaron Pierre Jr. with the Sam Houston State transfer emerging as the No. 1 priority for Pope and his staff.

Time to get back to the drawing board.