Making the adjustment to college basketball is different for every freshman. But making that jump during a COVID offseason and after reclassifying a year up, is an even harder adjustment.
For IU freshman Khristian Lander, that's exactly what his past eight months have been like.
There is no question about it, the five-star freshman guard struggled to adjust to the college game right away. But, he is coming on strong and showing a lot of confidence at the perfect time for Indiana.
"He’s been trying to find his way for a long period of time,” Miller said on his radio show Monday. "Offensively, he’s always been very talented. We’ve seen glimpses of him in practice and times where he could shoot the ball well. He has a different gear with the ball. He can get by people and make some good passes. But we just felt like he wasn’t ready to start games. He was nervous and he just wasn’t in tune with what was going on.
"He’s spent a lot of time. Extra workouts, extra lifts. He’s picked himself up and got himself in a situation now where he’s helping," Miller added. "He’s contributing... (against Iowa) He had some really good passes, banged a huge shot and did a good job defensively. Played 15 minutes. I told him that 15 can continue to grow.”
Lander is averaging just 2.3 points and 0.9 assists in just 8.6 minutes per game this season, but is continuing to see the game slow down and with that, comes increased confidence.
