Coming out of the 2024 season, Indiana University men’s basketball had seven scholarships available to re-make their roster.
It was vital that Indiana not only filled the open gaps, but constructed their team in such a way as to not to as unbalanced in their playing style as the Hoosiers were in 2024. IU was over-reliant on bigs Kel’El Ware and Malik Reneau, good though both were, and had little in the way of a perimeter attack.
The transfer portal was always going to be an integral part of re-balancing the Hoosiers. Over the last week, Indiana has taken strides in re-making their team — and there could be more on the horizon during the rest of the week and beyond.
After the addition of true freshman forward Bryson Tucker on March 28, the Hoosiers have made three more additions via the portal since then.
Indiana needed backcourt help and got it with the addition of former Washington State point guard Myles Rice and former Stanford guard Kanaan Carlyle.
The break-up of the Pac-12 Conference bore more fruit as IU also signed former Arizona center Oumar Ballo as a replacement for Ware. All of these players signed with the Hoosiers last week.
Rice is a 6-foot-2 point guard. He was part of the reason Washington State had a resurgence in 2024 as the 25-10 Cougars made the NCAA tournament for the first time since 2008.
Rice started all 35 games and averaged 14.8 points and 3.8 assists.
Rice, who has three years of eligibility left, officially signed Tuesday, which allowed Indiana coach Mike Woodson to comment on him for the first time.
“Myles is a savvy, downhill guard that really succeeds in pick-and-roll situations. He is a three-level scorer that makes the right play consistently, whether that is getting to the rim or finding the open man. He is going to be a huge help for our ballclub, and we are very excited to welcome him and his family to Bloomington,” Woodson said in a statement released to the media Tuesday.
Carlyle, a 6-3 Atlanta native, also has three years of eligibility left after playing one season for the Cardinal. Carlyle started 16 of the 23 games he played for Stanford, averaging 11.5 points, 2.7 rebounds and 2.7 assists.
The question that both Rice and Carlyle pose is whether they provide enough shooting to truly help the Hoosiers? Carlyle made 32% of his 3-point attempts while Rice was only good 27.5% of the time.
Meanwhile, Ballo has one of eligibility remaining. Ballo is a seven-footer, but his game is different than fellow seven-footer Ware and is also a change of pace from one-time Indiana center Trayce Jackson-Davis.
Ballo is a wide body as he is listed at 260 pounds. The Malian big man – who played one season at Gonzaga, before he played three for Arizona – is a menace on the glass as he averaged 10.1 rebounds for the Wildcats. While Ballo doesn’t block shots at the same clip Ware (1.9) proved he could do, Ballo’s 1.3 average is stout.
The Hoosiers got an up-close-and-personal view of Ballo back on Dec. 10, 2022 in Las Vegas. Ballo converted 6 of 9 from the field for 13 points and he also snagged 12 rebounds in Arizona’s 89-75 win over the Hoosiers at the MGM Grand Arena.
In addition to the portal players Indiana’s coaching staff has zeroed in on, there are other targets the Hoosiers want to hit the mark on. One object of Indiana’s affection who could help diversify IU’s attack is former Illinois wing Luke Goode.
The Fort Wayne native put himself in the portal on Monday. He already has a visit planned for the latter part of this week.
Goode played three years for the Fighting Illini. He started just seven of 76 career games, but his minutes increased with each season. In 2024, Goode shot 38.9% from 3-point range and averaged 5.7 points. His shooting touch is badly needed by the Hoosiers. Goode would have two years of eligibility left.
Indiana has three scholarships available that it can use for the 2024-25 season. If Goode signs, IU would likely need another big man and could use the final scholarship to create some depth at the three-spot or wherever it would be most necessary.
One problem Indiana had in 2024 was that it left a scholarship open, which burned them as the season went along due to injuries and ineffectiveness from players on the bench.
IU also is honed in on the high school recruiting path as it is working on the Class of 2025. On Tuesday, the entire Indiana coaching staff made a full-court press to get some in-state recruits in their good graces.
Woodson and company visited Greenfield-Central forward Braylon Mullins, Heritage Hills forward Trent Sisley as well as La Lumiere duo Darius Adams and Jalen Haralson. Adams is a guard and Haralson, the most highly-touted of the quartet, is a small forward.
