Meet Kanaan Carlyle: 'Once he gets to Indiana, I think you’re going to see another level.'
BLOOMINGTON – Before running a backcourt with Bruce Thornton, or helping Milton High School win a Georgia state title in 2021, or moving to Overtime Elite, or making a Pac-12 all-freshman team at Stanford, Kanaan Carlyle earned his nickname.
An apparent high-major prospect from a young age, Carlyle ran down his dream everywhere he could. Milton coach Allen Whitehart would find Carlyle with his father in the gym, before practice started or long after it ended, putting in extra work. Carlyle and Thornton — now starting point guard at Ohio State — asking to be let into Milton’s football stadium at 7 a.m. Saturdays, so they could run sprints on the field in the steaming Georgia sunshine.
All that work paid off when Carlyle, a four-star prospect in the 2023 class, signed with Stanford. But long before anyone knew exactly where his ambition would take him, Carlyle picked up his nickname, “Canine,” because for all his talent, it was his doggedness and determination that made him into the player he is now.
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“He’s probably,” Whitehart told IndyStar, “one of the most competitive kids I’ve ever coached.”
Now, Carlyle brings that competitiveness and those ambitions to Bloomington. He entered the transfer portal after Stanford fired coach Jerod Haase and, at least to outward appearance, Indiana appeared firmly in the driver’s seat through Carlyle’s subsequent recruitment. IU has enjoyed success recruiting Atlanta-area prospects through associate head coach Yasir Rosemond, himself a native of the Georgia capital.
Carlyle earned conference all-freshman honors last season in Palo Alto, averaging 11.5 points, 2.7 rebounds and 2.7 assists per game.
As the winter wore on, Stanford asked more and more of its talented freshman. Carlyle — who established himself in the Cardinal’s starting lineup after the new year — ended the Pac-12 league season third in the conference in percentage of possessions used, and 12th in percentage of his team’s shots taken.
“He’s what I consider a combo guard, legitimately,” Whitehart said. “He can play the point or play off the ball. He can fill both roles and play them at a high level. You’re able to move him in different places.”
That, Whitehart said, is a direct result of Carlyle’s work ethic.
“He and his dad, they’re just tireless workers. They were always working to get better on whatever it was,” Whitehart said. “Whether it was conditioning, shooting, athleticism, whatever. Always in the gym.
“(Carlyle) and Bruce Thornton, they were in the backcourt together for me. They just always pushed each other.”
Adding Carlyle to a backcourt already anchored by fifth-year senior captain Trey Galloway, and bolstered by the arrival of fellow Atlanta native-turned-Pac-12-standout Myles Rice, Mike Woodson enjoys considerable depth and flexibility in his guard rotation.
Behind those three, he can draw on experience (Anthony Leal), steadiness (Gabe Cupps) and versatility (Jakai Newton). The Hoosiers will need at least one of those players to step forward as a volume 3-point shooter — Carlyle, who shot 32-of-100 from distance last season, might be IU’s best bet — but provided some injury luck Woodson might have assembled his deepest backcourt to date.
How Woodson fits those pieces together, once his team gathers beginning with summer workouts late this month and into next, will determine precisely the impact of his impressive portal work thus far. A transfer class considered by industry experts to be among the best (if not the best) in the country will only make as much difference as its coach’s ability to arrange his talent successfully.
Carlyle might make that job a little easier. He has the flexibility to play multiple positions, and to fill multiple roles. Like any rising sophomore, he needs some polish, but he also immediately returns the sort of multifaceted impact that hands Woodson not just depth in terms of bodies, but also in options.
And in Whitehart’s estimation, Carlyle’s developmental trajectory only points in one direction.
“I think his best is yet to come,” Whitehart said. “Once he gets to Indiana, I think you’re going to see another level. I don’t think he’s shown as good as he can be.
“It’s going to be an exciting year for him and for the fans. I think you’re going to see him get even better.”
Follow IndyStar reporter Zach Osterman on Twitter: @ZachOsterman.
This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: IU basketball transfer Kanaan Carlyle gives Hoosiers roster flexibility
