NASHVILLE, Tenn. - - Belmont University men's basketball legend Dylan Windler ('19) has agreed to a playing contract with the Los Angeles Lakers, the organization and NBA reporter Adrian Wojnarowski confirmed Saturday.
Â
This comes after Windler's record-breaking 22-point, 33-rebound performance Friday night on assignment with the New York Knicks' G League affiliate, Westchester.
Â
Windler was in uniform for the Lakers as they defeated the Los Angeles Clippers, 106-103, Sunday.
Â
Windler played the last four seasons with the Cleveland Cavaliers, after being selected No. 26 overall in the 2019 NBA Draft.
He scored a career-high 15 points vs. Atlanta and made nine consecutive 3-pointers during a two-game stretch - the most for a Cav in six years.
Â
The Indianapolis, Indiana native led Belmont to 94 victories and three conference championships in his career, including A5 victories over UCLA, Georgia and Vanderbilt. Windler capped his career by helping the Bruins earn their first-ever NCAA Tournament victory with a win over Temple. Two days later, he scored a game-high 35 points against Maryland.
As a senior, Windler averaged 21.3 points, 10.9 rebounds and 2.5 assists per game. He joined future Hall of Famer Kevin Durant as one of two players in NCAA Division I history to average 20.0 points, 10.5 rebounds and at least two made 3-point field goals per game in a single season.
Windler became just the fourth Ohio Valley Conference player since 1971 to post at least 1,600 career points and 1,000 career rebounds (Popeye Jones, Kenneth Faried, Chris Horton). In fact, of the nine 30 point-20 rebound games in college basketball over the last two seasons, only Windler and South Dakota State All-American Mike Daum recorded multiple 30-20 games.
He graduated 18th in college basketball history in effective field goal percentage (.640) and ranked fourth nationally in offensive efficiency by noted statistician Ken Pomeroy (Brandon Clarke, Zion Williamson, Matt Rafferty).
Windler was a finalist for the Julius Erving Award and Lou Henson Award and was named All-District by the United States Basketball Writers Association (USBWA) and National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC).Â
Belmont University men's basketball has been a postseason fixture the last two decades, including nine berths to the NCAA Tournament. The Bruins have won 20 conference championships since 2006 - third-most nationally over that span (Gonzaga, Kansas). Belmont has won 20 or more games in 13 consecutive seasons (Gonzaga, Kansas, Oregon) and 19 or game games in 18 consecutive seasons (Gonzaga, Kansas, San Diego State). Belmont is among select programs with two or more first-round selections in the NBA Draft over the last five years (
Ben Sheppard, Dylan Windler). Belmont University men's basketball boasts an NCAA-leading 19Â CoSIDAÂ Academic All-America selections since 2001 and is the only NCAA Division I program to make the NCAA Academic Progress Rate (APR) Honor Roll every year of existence
Â
