IU basketball environment 'second to none' for top-10 guard Darius Garland

BLOOMINGTON – Winston Garland grew up in Gary. He was recruited by Bob Knight.

So when he brought his son, five-star point guard Darius Garland, to Hoosier Hysteria this weekend, Winston Garland had him prepared.

“Every time I get a chance to go into Assembly Hall, it gives me chills,” Winston Garland said. “I passed that on to Darius. I told him that I don’t want this to have anything to do with your (recruitment), but there’s nothing better than Indiana basketball.”

Darius Garland, an elite point guard and the No. 10 prospect in the 2018 class per the 247Sports Composite, was one of two top-10 official visitors in Bloomington this weekend for IU coach Archie Miller’s first Hoosier Hysteria.

The Garland family has visited Indiana and seen Assembly Hall before — they were in the stands for the senior day win over Maryland in 2016 — but this weekend marked Garland’s official visit.

And it represents an important early step forward under Miller, who also hosted New Albany star Romeo Langford for Hysteria. IU has four commitments in a 2018 class ranked among the best in the country. Adding one or both of the five-star prospects on campus this weekend would cement Miller’s first full recruiting class as one of the program’s best in recent memory.

Landing Garland would mean hauling in one of the country’s top prep point guards, and giving IU two in the class that must replace a five-senior group graduating after this year. That’s part of the reason why the Garlands took such a close look at what life under Miller and his staff might be like for their son, who plays high school ball at Brentwood Academy in suburban Nashville, Tenn.

“The visit was absolutely the best,” Winston Garland said. “Had a chance to see them practice, and I totally understand why coach Miller’s teams, they rank amongst the best on the defensive end. It was super intense. Even though he had some guys out due to injury, it was still a really good practice.”

This weekend’s official followed an in-home visit in Tennessee with Miller’s entire staff.

“Coach Miller and his staff, we’ve been face-to-face a couple times,” Winston Garland said. “Each time, the comfort level has become better and better. It’s real easy to talk to coach and his staff. The people that they are, and all of them are family men. Just an awesome visit, and you get the sense that they will absolutely take care of your son.”

IU is one of four programs still in the mix with Garland, who will take his final official this weekend, to UCLA. Kentucky and hometown school Vanderbilt are also among his finalists.

After this weekend’s visit to Westwood, the family will sit down and hash out their options together, with a November signing the target.

“There’s some really good coaches that are recruiting Darius, really good programs, and basketball seems to take care of itself,” Winston Garland said. “But you look beyond basketball. You look at the guys he’s playing with, the guys that are coming in, the guys that are there, his comfort level and who he feels good with.”

If this weekend was IU’s last big recruiting pitch for Darius Garland, then it appears the Hoosiers left a strong impression.

“The environment was second to none,” Winston Garland said. “Tried to warn him, tried to tell him about the fans at Indiana. There’s a new guard, new regime, and I knew it would be really good, it would be lights out there. And it was.”

Follow IndyStar reporter Zach Osterman on Twitter: @ZachOsterman.