Indiana University Athletics
Lance Stemler Signs Letter of Intent
5/2/2006 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
May 2, 2006
Bloomington, Ind. - Junior college All-American Lance Stemler has signed a national letter of intent to continue his basketball career at Indiana University, head coach Kelvin Sampson announced on May 2. Stemler, a 6-8, 215-pound forward, will have two years of eligibility remaining after one-year stints at Bradley University in 2004-05 and Southwestern Illinois College (SWIC) in 2005-06.
Sampson feels Stemler is going to make an immediate impact on next year's squad.
"Lance is a first team junior college All-American and his team won 34 games last year," Sampson said. "The thing that jumped out to me is the program he came from. (SWIC Head Coach) Jay Harrington is a National Junior College Association of American (NJCAA) Hall of Famer. He is a great coach, runs a terrific, yet disciplined program and they play a team game. Lance is not a great athlete, but a very good basketball player. He can step out and shot and go inside as well. Lance is certainly a good addition for Indiana."
While at SWIC, Stemler earned NJCAA first- team All-America honors after leading his squad to 34 victories and a sixth-place finish in the NJCAA national tournament. While with the Blue Storm, Stemler averaged 22.4 points per game - a number that ranked sixth in the nation in the NJCAA. He also chipped in with 6.4 rebounds and 1.8 steals, while shooting .563 from the floor and .393 from beyond the arc.
In addition to his first team All-American accolades, Stemler earned NJCAA Region 24 Most Valuable Player and first team honors, and was selected to participate in the NJCAA All-Star game where he scored 13 points in leading his team to a 109-94 victory. Furthermore, Stemler earned the school's first-ever National Player of the Week honor on Feb. 15.
SWIC head coach Jay Harrington, who is longtime friends with Sampson after the duo served on the USA Collegiate Basketball Committee, is expecting Stemler to be a good fit as a Hoosier.
"Lance is a very skilled player and he is very knowledgeable about the game of basketball," Stemler said. "He is really an unselfish player and is a better person than he will ever be a basketball player."
Stemler joins IU signees Mike White, Armon Bassett and Xavier Keeling. Like Stemler, White, a 6-6, 245-pound power forward, was an NJCAA All-America honoree (third team) and Region co-MVP. He started all 61 games during his two-year career at Lee (Texas) College, while averaging 19.4 points, 7.4 rebounds and 2.0 blocks per contest, and also shooting an impressive .590 from the floor.
Bassett, a 6-1, 170-pound point guard from Terre Haute, Ind. (South Vigo HS and Hargrave (Va.) Military Academy) and Keeling, a 6-6, 218-pound forward from Huntsville, Ala (J.O. Johnson HS)., both are coming off outstanding high school careers. Bassett is rated as the No. 21 point guard in the class of 2006 according to rivals.com. As a senior at Terre Haute South Vigo High School, Bassett averaged 22.5 points, 6.0 rebounds and 6.0 assists. Keeling also had a standout career, averaging 17.0 points and 14.0 rebounds at J.O. Johnson High School. Keeling and current IU sophomore D.J. White were teammates with the AAU Alabama Lasers in 2003.
"When you start recruiting in the month of April, you are obviously a little behind the eight ball," Sampson said. "I told our coaches, let's not just find the best player, but let's find the best combination of student-athlete, player and person. Those are the kind of people in the long run who will be the best for you, and that's exactly what we have."
