Hopping on the Rumor Mill
The hype for the upcoming Indiana men’s basketball season continues to build just over a week after the start of official fall practices with this report from Jon Rothstein:
Well embedded moles in Bloomington have sent word that the early surprise at Indiana has been Stanford transfer Kanaan Carlyle. Making an impact on both sides of the ball. A key piece in the Hoosiers’ loaded transfer class.
— Jon Rothstein (@JonRothstein) September 30, 2024
The first thing that catches my eye is that his performance has been “surprising” thus far. As a freshman at Stanford, he averaged over 11 points per game. His play also earned him an invite to Chris Paul’s camp for elite guards over the summer.
Clearly, expectations for Carlyle were not low when he announced his decision to transfer to Indiana. And yet he seems to be exceeding those expectations.
The second, and maybe more significant part of this report is that Carlyle has been defending well. Despite his accolades, Carlyle was going to have to earn a starting spot in the backcourt over Trey Galloway, who has defended well and done whatever Mike Woodson has asked of him over the last three seasons.
Given Galloway’s injury and Carlyle’s strong play on defense, it’s probably safe to assume Kanaan has the starting two guard spot locked up, at least for now. This will allow Galloway to come off the bench and provide a spark at either guard spot, giving Woodson more flexibility than he’s had in the backcourt since he’s been in Bloomington.
Time will tell how the pieces fit together on the court, but it’s definitely encouraging to hear that Indiana will have so many offensive and defensive weapons when the season starts.