Indiana Basketball Player Scouting Report: Langdon Hatton

Bellarmine center Langdon Hatton has committed to play for Mike Woodson and Indiana basketball for the upcoming 2024-25 college season, as it was announced on Wednesday evening.

Hatton, 6-foot-10 center, is the fifth player out of the transfer portal to commit to Indiana along with guards Myles Rice, Kannan Carlyle, center Oumar Ballo, and wing Luke Goode. He comes to Indiana after averaged 10.5 points, 7.1 rebounds and 1.3 assists per game in 31 games last year for the Bellarmine Knights.

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 has one year of eligibility remaining. He is the second player from the state Indiana, along with Luke Goode, to come to Indiana basketball via the transfer portal this offseason.

Indiana basketball beat out schools such as Ohio Sate, Louisville, Clemson, Minnesota, and others for the senior center. Before, playing for Bellarmine for the past two seasons, he spent one year at William & Mary.

With the commitment, Indiana basketball now has just one scholarship remaining for the 2024-25 season.

Before his college career got underway, 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.

Scouting Report: Myles Rice

The addition of Hatton immediately gives much more depth to the frontcourt of the Hoosiers next season. Before Hatton committed to Indiana basketball, Malik Reneau, Oumar Ballo, and Mackenzie Mgbako were the only players capable of playing in a frontcourt role next season. Now Indiana has a legit rotation that they can mix-and-match with next season.

Before we get into all the areas that Hatton can contribute in, you have to start off with his strength as a true post player. Last season for Bellarmine, 69 percent of his field goal attempts were at the rim, where he shot 55 percent. When watching film on him, you notice right away how solid he is in getting into post-up actions against his defender.

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.

He also can be a threat in the transition game and cutting off the ball, as well. While he is at a tall length of 6-foot-10, he is just a tad undersized when you think about the size of the centers he will be going at in the Big Ten. If Mike Woodson wants to once again be an offense that would rather get out and run before settling into a half court offense, Hatton is your ideal big in that scenario.

Scouting Report: Kanaan Carlyle

To add to Hatton’s ability to be a post presence for Indiana basketball next season, yes Hoosier Nation, he can also step out and shoot. 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.

In the type of offense that Bellarmine ran during his time there, there was not a whole lot of opportunity for him to step out and shoot it from behind the arc. Mike Woodson is not a coach that is going to hold his frontcourt players in the post as we have seen with guys like Malik Reneau, Kel’el Ware, and Race Thompson.

If you have versatility like Hatton does, it will be utilized in Indiana’s offense, which was likely one of the selling points for him when deciding to go to Indiana. He won’t be able to create an outside jumper on the ball, but he can be a very efficient catch-and-shoot big if the defense gives him space, kind of like how you saw Kel’el Ware get his outside buckets last season.

Hatton will also bring improvement when it comes to the glass too, especially on the defensive end. Hatton is a strong rebounder as well, 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. Indiana basketball was not a very good rebounding team last size even with their talent in the frontcourt so getting guys like Hatton and Oumar Ballo was a must for Mike Woodson and the Hoosiers.

He will also be a capable defender as well and will come in with black rate of 3.4%. If you are going to be on a roster with Mike Woodson as the head coach, you going to have to be a willing defender and Hatton can be just that.

Again, with Mike Woodson and the Indiana basketball staff filling nearly spot they needed to this offseason, getting another big after that was crucial. Not only are they just getting a big to fill this spot, they are also getting an experienced one in that and one that knows the Indiana basketball culture and what it means to play for this program.

Below are full highlights of Bellarmine center Langdon Hatton.

SEE ALSO: ‘Indiana is going to be a top ten team this year.’ Will Indiana basketball live up to these high expectations?

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