Vanderwalker enjoys workout with former OSU great Turner
A chance meeting at a golf store led to a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for Landon Vanderwarker.
It was roughly a year ago that Vanderwarker’s dad, Ryan, was working at the Golf Room in Dublin when a familiar face walked in. Evan Turner, one of Ohio State’s most decorated players, needed a fitting for some new golf clubs, so while he got busy with that Ryan Vanderwarker asked if he could call his son over to meet him.
Turner acquiesced and that led to the 2010 college basketball player of the year spending some time inside the Northside Christian gym working out with Landon as he goes through his sophomore season.
“My dad after one of our games was like, ‘Oh, yeah, Evan Turner offered to come train you on Monday. You cool with that?’ ” he said. “Then my dad gave him a call and said we were cool.
“I’m very grateful because any time you can get in with college guys, NBA guys, it’s a blessing. They’ve learned and seen stuff that, as a high schooler, I haven’t seen yet. He’s given me a ton of insight into what it’s like to play against the best players and be one of the best players in college and in the NBA.”
The workout lasted roughly an hour and took place before the Lions held their team practice for the day. Vanderwarker said the focus was equal parts shooting, dribbling and mental focus.
“I missed a couple shots, and he’d be like, ‘It’s OK, man. Most people who shoot 10 shots, they miss the first seven but as long as you make the last two or three, those are the ones that count,’ ” Vanderwarker said. “He talked through how Damian Lillard shoots and how Evan has learned through the years that some people have bad days of shooting, but you’ve just got to keep shooting.”
Scoring hasn’t been too much of a problem for Vanderwarker, who averaged 18.5 points per game as a freshman and has assumed more of a go-to player role after losing six seniors from last year’s team. He’s also worked out with local trainer Jason Dawson alongside Gahanna’s Sean Jones (now at Marquette), Pickerington Central’s Devin Royal (Ohio State signee) and Africentric’s Dailyn Swain (Xavier signee).
Vanderwarker took an unofficial visit to Ohio State during the fall as the football team hosted Arkansas State on Sept. 10, one of six unofficial visits the sophomore said he took during the fall. Virginia, Ohio and Miami (Ohio) were also on his list.
Shawnee State is the only school to have offered Vanderwarker a scholarship to this point. His dad remains in contact with Ohio State associate coach Jake Diebler, and Vanderwarker said it was at his invitation that he was behind the Ohio State bench for the Big Ten opener against Rutgers. ajardy@dispatch.com @Adamjardy