Khristian Lander (born August 9, 2002) is an American

college basketball In United States colleges, top-tier basketball is governed by collegiate athletic bodies including National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), the United States Collegiate Athleti ...

player for the

Western Kentucky Hilltoppers The Western Kentucky Hilltoppers and Lady Toppers are the athletic teams that represent Western Kentucky University (WKU), located in Bowling Green, Kentucky, in intercollegiate sports as a member of the NCAA Division I ranks, competing in the Co ...

of the

Conference USA Conference USA (C-USA or CUSA) is an intercollegiate athletic conference whose current member institutions are located within the Southern United States. The conference participates in the NCAA's Division I in all sports. C-USA's offices are l ...

. He previously played for the

Indiana Hoosiers The Indiana Hoosiers are the intercollegiate sports teams and players of Indiana University Bloomington, named after the colloquial term for people from the state of Indiana. The Hoosiers participate in NCAA Division I, Division I of the Nationa ...

of the

Big Ten Conference The Big Ten Conference (stylized B1G, formerly the Western Conference and the Big Nine Conference) is the oldest Division I collegiate athletic conference in the United States. Founded as the Intercollegiate Conference of Faculty Representati ...

High school career

Lander played basketball for

FJ Reitz High School Francis Joseph Reitz High School (FJ Reitz High School, FJ Reitz, or simply Reitz) is a public high school on the west side of Evansville, Indiana. It was founded in 1918 following a donation from local philanthropist and banker Francis Joseph ...

Evansville, Indiana Evansville is a city in, and the county seat of, Vanderburgh County, Indiana, United States. The population was 118,414 at the 2020 census, making it the state's third-most populous city after Indianapolis and Fort Wayne, the largest city in ...

. As a junior, he averaged 21 points, six rebounds and 4.6 assists per game, earning

MaxPreps MaxPreps is an American website that specializes in coverage of American high school sports. The site is owned by Paramount Global and is a division of CBS Sports. Founded on August 1, 2002, the company has covered up to 29 sports, including b ...

Junior All-American third team honors. Lander finished his high school career with 1,314 points. He also played on the AAU circuit with Indiana Elite, where he built a relationship with future college teammates

Trey Galloway Trey Allen Galloway (born November 28, 2001) is an American college basketball player for the Indiana Hoosiers of the Big Ten Conference. He previously played for Culver Academies and was ranked as one of the Class of 2020's highest prospects in t ...

and

Anthony Leal Anthony Leal (born May 12, 2001) is an American college basketball player for the Indiana Hoosiers of the Big Ten Conference. He previously played for Bloomington South and was ranked as the third best player in the state of Indiana for the class ...

. Lander was a consensus five-star

recruit __NOTOC__ Recruit can refer to: Military * Military recruitment * Recruit training, in the military * '' Rekrut'' (English: Recruit), a military recruit or low rank in German-speaking countries * Seaman recruit Books *''Le Réquisitionnaire'' (E ...

, according to major recruiting services. On February 25, 2020, he announced his commitment to Indiana over offers from

Louisville Louisville ( , , ) is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky and the 28th most-populous city in the United States. Louisville is the historical seat and, since 2003, the nominal seat of Jefferson County, on the Indiana border. ...

Memphis Memphis most commonly refers to: * Memphis, Egypt, a former capital of ancient Egypt * Memphis, Tennessee, a major American city Memphis may also refer to: Places United States * Memphis, Alabama * Memphis, Florida * Memphis, Indiana * Memp ...

and

Michigan Michigan () is a state in the Great Lakes region of the upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the 10th-largest state by population, the 11th-largest by area, and the ...

, among others. On May 18, it was announced that Lander, originally a member of the 2021 class, would reclassify to the 2020 class. He made the decision in part because he wanted to play with

Trayce Jackson-Davis Trayce Jackson-Davis (born February 22, 2000) is an American college basketball player for the Indiana Hoosiers of the Big Ten Conference. He previously played for Center Grove High School in Greenwood, Indiana, he was ranked as one of the highest ...

College career

As a freshman, Lander averaged 2.1 points and 1.2 assists per game. After the season, he initially entered the transfer portal due to the firing of coach Archie Miller, but opted to remain at Indiana when the school hired

Mike Woodson Michael Dean Woodson (born March 24, 1958) is an American basketball coach and former professional player who is the head coach of the Indiana Hoosiers men's basketball team. With coach Bob Knight's Indiana Hoosiers, Woodson played collegiatel ...

. On February 8, 2022, Lander was one of five players suspended by Woodson for breaking team rules. Lander was reinstated on February 10, after missing one game. In April 2022, Lander transferred to

Western Kentucky Western Kentucky is the western portion of the U.S. state of Kentucky. It generally includes part or all of several more widely recognized regions of the state. ;Always included * The Jackson Purchase, the state's westernmost generally recogniz ...

. He averaged 3.2 points per game as a junior.

Career statistics

College

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Indiana Indiana () is a U.S. state in the Midwestern United States. It is the 38th-largest by area and the 17th-most populous of the 50 States. Its capital and largest city is Indianapolis. Indiana was admitted to the United States as the 19th s ...

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Personal life

Lander is the son of Keith and Brandie Lander. He and his father have matching tattoos of their initials, depicting a prince crown and a king crown, he also has really close friends he made during his time in Indiana with Aeden King Evyn King and Hailey Miles, respectively.

References

External links

Indiana Hoosiers bioUSA Basketball bioWestern Kentucky Hilltoppers bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lander, Khristian 2002 births Living people American men's basketball players Basketball players from Indiana Indiana Hoosiers men's basketball players Point guards Sportspeople from Evansville, Indiana Western Kentucky Hilltoppers basketball players