Khristian Lander (born August 9, 2002) is an American basketball player from Evansville, Indiana. A highly recruited point guard at F.J. Reitz High School, Lander was considered one of the top high school basketball prospects in the United States before reclassifying and enrolling early at Indiana University. He played two seasons for the Indiana Hoosiers before transferring to Western Kentucky University, where he completed his college career in 2025.
Early Life and High School
Lander was born in Evansville to Keith and Brandie Lander and grew up playing basketball in the city. His father, Keith Lander, had been a college athlete himself, lettering for three seasons as a defensive back on the Western Kentucky football team under head coach Jack Harbaugh.
Lander attended F.J. Reitz High School on Evansville’s west side and quickly developed into one of Indiana’s highest-rated basketball prospects.
Playing point guard for the Reitz Panthers, Lander averaged 23.2 points per game as a sophomore. He continued to develop during his junior season, averaging 21.0 points, 6.0 rebounds and 4.6 assists per game.
Lander helped lead Reitz to an IHSAA sectional championship and received numerous individual honors. He was named First-Team All-Southern Indiana Athletic Conference, Second-Team All-State and an Indiana Junior All-Star. MaxPreps selected him as a Third-Team Junior All-American.
He scored 1,314 points during his Reitz career. Outside of high school basketball, Lander played for the Indiana Elite AAU program, where his teammates included future Indiana University players Anthony Leal and Trey Galloway.
Recruitment
By his junior year at Reitz, Lander had become one of the most highly recruited basketball players ever produced by Evansville.
He was originally ranked by 247Sports as the No. 11 overall player in the national Class of 2021 and was regarded as one of the country’s leading point guards.
Lander received scholarship offers from numerous major college basketball programs before committing to Indiana University.
In February 2020, Lander announced that he intended to reclassify from the Class of 2021 to the Class of 2020, allowing him to graduate early from Reitz and begin his college career a year ahead of schedule.
Following his reclassification, he remained a highly rated prospect, ranked No. 26 nationally by Rivals and No. 27 by both 247Sports and ESPN in the 2020 class.
Lander completed his remaining Reitz academic requirements during the summer of 2020 and enrolled at Indiana at age 18. His addition helped give Indiana the No. 13-ranked recruiting class nationally according to 247Sports.
Indiana University
Lander joined head coach Archie Miller’s Indiana Hoosiers for the 2020–21 season.
As a freshman, he appeared in 26 games, primarily coming off the bench. He averaged 2.1 points and recorded 30 assists.
Following Miller’s departure, Lander remained at Indiana under new head coach Mike Woodson for the 2021–22 season.
He appeared in 13 games during his second season, averaging 2.9 points per game while shooting 33.3 percent from three-point range. One of his best performances came against Louisiana, when he recorded nine points, six rebounds and six assists in 24 minutes.
Lander also appeared in Indiana’s 2022 NCAA Tournament game against Saint Mary’s, scoring two points in six minutes.
Academically, he was named to the Academic All-Big Ten Team in 2022. After two seasons at Indiana, Lander entered the transfer portal.
Western Kentucky
In April 2022, Lander announced that he would transfer to Western Kentucky University.
The move also created a family connection for Lander. His father, Keith, had played football for Western Kentucky, making Khristian a second-generation WKU athlete.
Lander appeared in 33 games during his first season with the Hilltoppers in 2022–23, averaging 3.2 points per game.
His role increased considerably during the 2023–24 season. Lander appeared in 26 games, making 11 starts, and averaged 9.0 points, 2.7 rebounds and approximately two assists per game. He shot 35 percent from three-point range.
Lander returned to Western Kentucky as a graduate student for the 2024–25 season and produced the best statistical season of his college career.
He appeared in 28 games with 15 starts, averaging 26 minutes per game. Lander averaged 12.0 points per game during the regular season, making him the Hilltoppers’ second-leading active scorer, and made 48 three-point field goals. He was also named to the Conference USA Commissioner’s Honor Roll.
College career
Between Indiana and Western Kentucky, Lander appeared in 126 Division I college basketball games.
He finished his college career averaging 6.1 points, 1.9 rebounds and 1.3 assists per game, while shooting 34.3 percent from three-point range.
His college career included two seasons in the Big Ten with Indiana and three seasons at Western Kentucky.
Evansville connections
Lander’s basketball career began on Evansville’s west side at Reitz High School, where he became one of the city’s most nationally prominent basketball recruits of his generation.
Before leaving for Indiana University, he scored 1,314 points for the Panthers, won a sectional championship, earned Indiana Junior All-Star and All-State recognition and rose as high as No. 11 nationally in his original recruiting class.
His recruitment attracted national attention to the Reitz basketball program and continued Evansville’s long history of producing Division I basketball players.