Five-star 2021 guard Khristian Lander commits to Indiana over Michigan, others

Khristian Lander was expected to be one of the top targets on Juwan Howard’s board for the 2021 class, but he will not be joining the Michigan Wolverines. The five-star prospect and Evansville, Indiana native announced on Tuesday evening that he has committed to the in-state Indiana Hoosiers over Michigan, Louisville and Memphis.

Lander is ranked as the nation’s top point guard in the 2021 cycle and the 11th overall prospect. Michigan figures to recruit that position hard during the next recruiting cycle given that David DeJulius will be a senior by the time the 2021-22 season rolls around and Zeb Jackson will be entering his sophomore year.

There seems to be buzz from the Indiana side of things that a reclassification to the 2020 class might be in the cards for Lander, which makes sense given the timing of his decision. The Wolverines are already one over the scholarship limit for next season and bring back DeJulius and Eli Brooks next season, along with Jackson as a freshman. They are still awaiting decisions from five-star prospects Josh Christopher and Greg Brown, the former of which seems to be trending heavily to the Wolverines.

As far as where Michigan goes from here at the point guard spot, the next guy on the board for them would be five-star prospect Kennedy Chandler out of Memphis, Tennessee. Chandler is the second-ranked point guard in the 2021 cycle and 18th-overall player in the class.

Chandler holds a Michigan offer and visited Ann Arbor the weekend of Feb. 15. Other schools listed as “warm” in his recruitment on 247Sports are Florida State, Ole Miss, Tennessee, Duke, Kansas, Kentucky, Memphis and North Carolina.

The Wolverines have an offer out to in-state point guard Jaden Akins out of Farmington, Michigan. He is a four-star prospect and the 18th-ranked point guard at the position. His other offers include DePaul, Iowa, Michigan State and others.