Indiana Basketball Newcomer Focus: Senior center Langdon Hatton

The Indiana basketball program is going to look a whole lot different with many new faces coming in this season, with all 13 scholarships filled for the upcoming year.

In total, Indiana basketball will bring in 7 new faces, replacing 6 departures from a season ago. Mike Woodson and his staff did a phenomenal job in the transfer portal addressing the needs of guards, shooting, and front court depth.

We have already looked at all of the returning players from a season ago in our “Indiana Basketball Returner Focus” series now, it is time for our “Indiana Basketball Newcomer Focus” series to continue our trend of looking at each player of the 2024-25 roster and preview what they bring for the Hoosiers.

Today, we look Bellarmine transfer senior center Langdon Hatton and look at where he comes from, and what his role will be for Indiana basketball this season.

Other players in the series: Oumar Ballo

Where He Comes From

Just like we talked about with Oumar Ballo in the last part of this series, Langdon Hatton is an other newcomer on this Indiana basketball team that has played for two different programs before making his way to Bloomington. The main difference between Ballo and Hatton in this scenario, Hatton is an Indiana native.

Hatton comes to the Indiana basketball program after playing 2 seasons at Bellarmine. Before Bellarmine, Hatton spent one season with William & Mary College. Hatton played for North Harrison (IN) High School where he was an Indiana all-star his senior year. Coming out of high school, he had offers from schools such as Ball State, Evansville, Ohio, and others.

Just like new Indiana basketball teammates Anthony Leal and Trey Galloway, Hatton comes from the Indiana Elite AAU program, as well.

Spending three full seasons in college thus far, Hatton is coming off his best single season yet. During his junior season at Bellarmine, averaged 10.5 points, 7.1 rebounds and 1.3 assists per game in 31 games, which included starting in all 31 of those outings. His best performance last season was 27 points, 12 rebounds and four assists against Kennesaw State. He had 14 points and five rebounds at Kansas State, 11 points and nine rebounds at BYU and 10 points and nine rebounds at Utah.He had 20 games with 10+ points.

Hatton is currently averaging a career 6.1 points and 4.0 rebounds in 94 total career games at both Bellamine and William & Mary.

After two season at Bellarmine, Hatton made the decision to enter his name into the transfer portal with just one season of eligibility before ultimately making a choice to finish out his college career in his home state, playing for Indiana basketball.

The Hoosiers beat out schools such as Ohio Sate, Louisville, Clemson, Minnesota, and others for the senior center.

Trending: In a year that will ‘define the Woodson era’ at Indiana basketball, it’s also a potential stepping stone for the program

Role for 2024-25 Season

Mandatory Credit: Jamie Rhodes-USA TODAY Sports

When Hatton entered the transfer portal, due to his ties with the state plus their being a need in the front court for depth, there was almost certainty that Indiana basketball was going to get involved with the former Bellarmine Knight.

At the time, Hatton was the fifth player from that transfer portal that Indiana basketball was able to get a commitment from.

The addition of Hatton for this Indiana basketball was to help bring more depth to the front court of the Hoosiers. Mike Woodson and his staff had at least three spots in the front court to fill and bringing in a player like Hatton made all the sense in the world. He is experienced and is very familiar with the Indiana basketball program.

While we know that Hatton was a depth add for the Hoosiers, his exact role for Indiana basketball was questioned just a little bit when he committed. With Indiana already having Malik Reneau, Mackenzie Mgbako, and the newly acquired Oumar Ballo, it was a wonder on what just exactly Hatton would be providing for Indiana basketball.

The role for Hatton this year from how the roster has shaped out is that he will be the player to spell both Reneau and Ballo in the front court. With Mike Woodson looking to become a little more versatile in the front court, Hatton is a perfect player that can provide key spot minutes when needed for Indiana basketball.

With injuries or foul trouble to either Reneau or Ballo, that is where you will see Hatton be able to maximize his playing time.

While Hatton is more of a modern day big, it is worth saying that his strength is playing in the post. Last season for Bellarmine, 69 percent of his field goal attempts were at the rim, where he shot 55 percent. Based off his the scouting report, Hatton is very good about getting into post-up actions. Once in a post-up action, he will use his skilled feet and length to make around the defender and utilize a soft touch around the rim in doing so. He is also good at going face up with the post defender as well and not afraid to bang through contact at the rim.

What makes him one of the more underrated pieces of this Indiana basketball versatility wise is his ability to play an inside-out game, just how Mike Woodson prefers his front court to be able to do at this level. While it is nowhere his strength to be a stretch four, he shot 33.3 percent from three (15-of-45) last year. In his career, he’s 18-of-55 on 3s. He has the ability to be effective in pick and pop scenarios as he had a 66 percent effective field goal rate on catch and shoot 3s, ranked in the 95th percentile last year.

Hatton also has a role helping improve Indiana’s rebounding as a whole. The Hoosiers have overall been a lackluster team when it comes to rebounding and has been that way in the first three seasons of the Mike Woodson era. Finishing last year with a defensive rebound rate of 21.7 — third best in the A-Sun conference — his 7.1 rebounds per game ranked sixth in the league.

Hatton’s role for this Indiana basketball roster is one of the more unique ones as his playing time will more-than-likely be very inconsistent as the 2024-25 season progresses. While that is often hard to sell when recruiting a player like Hatton, Indiana basketball got a steal in that regard.

Most players in Hatton’s situation want as much playing time as possible with only one season eligibility left. Hatton is looking to be a part of a team that is looking to compete for a Big Ten championship and make a deep run in the NCAA Tournament.

Notable Quote

“Langdon is an experienced, versatile big man that will help us with our front court depth,” said Mike Woodson when Hatton signed with Indiana basketball. “He is a big body that can work in the post, get after the glass, and step out to knock down a shot. He is an Indiana kid that plays the right way, and we are excited to bring him home to the Hoosier state.”

SEE ALSO: One question facing all 12 Indiana basketball players entering the summer

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