Indiana Hoosiers won transfer portal, and more talent could be coming

of indiana hoosiers were one of the most disappointing men’s basketball teams in the country last season. Head coach Mike Woodson led the program to the NCAA Tournament in each of his first two seasons, but the wheels fell off during the 2023-2024 season. It didn’t take a genius to figure out what was wrong with the team.

Indiana was the worst shooting team in America. The Hoosiers rarely took threes, and if they did, they probably missed. Only 27.8 percent of Indiana’s field goal attempts were from 3-point range, ranking 351st in DI. The team’s 3-point field goal percentage was 32.4 percent, ranking 255th in DI. Indiana’s starting point guard, Xavier Johnson, was out of the lineup with an injury, so guard play struggled, and the team never fully recovered.

At one point during the conference season, Indiana lost eight of 10 games against Big Ten opponents. That’s when rumors started flying that Woodson could be on the hot seat. As Johnson got healthy, Indiana played even better, winning its final four games of the regular season and the opening game of the Big Ten Tournament, finishing 19-14 overall and 11-11 in conference play, including the tournament. Ta.

The late-season heat wave wasn’t enough to send Indiana into March Madness, but it did save Woodson’s job if it was actually at stake. From the moment the season ended, it was an important offseason for the coaching staff to access the transfer portal and re-invent the roster, especially after the departure of five-star freshman Liam McNeely.

So far, the Hoosiers are crushing it in the transfer portal.Hoosiers boast the No. 1 transfer class in the country According to 247 Sports, Kansas State, UCLA, Missouri and Illinois round out the top five. Indiana has three great veteran players and could have a few more.

Let’s take a look at what the Hoosiers accomplished and where he could go next in the transfer portal with his remaining scholarship money.

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Kanaan Carlisle gives Indiana a bucket-get combo guard

Carlyle was ranked 59th overall for the Class of 2023. According to 247 SportsHe made his Stanford debut in December and immediately lived up to expectations. After dropping 28 points against a loaded Arizona team in his fourth career game, he scored 31 points against a tournament-bound team. State of Washington Team a few weeks later. Carlisle briefly attracted NBA attention as a one-and-done player, but his 3-point shooting eventually faded and interest in him waned. He entered the transfer portal after head coach Jerod Haase was fired and was ranked among the top 10 transfers in the country by 247Sports.

A tall combo guard at 6 feet 3 inches, Carlisle has a knack for creating shots for himself and his teammates, despite not always being the most efficient scorer. He has been able to perform reasonably well at all three levels, making 32-of-100 from deep this year, showing an ability to take a ton of 3-pointers even if he doesn’t necessarily make them. There is. He loves to pull up from midrange off the dribble, making nearly 40 percent of his non-rim two-to-the-rim shots this year, but only 12.5 percent of those baskets were assisted. His finishing needs work (he’s 54 percent at the rim), but he has the tools to add some technique. Carlisle’s defensive prowess is also intriguing because of his length, but he looked like a freshman in that regard most of the year.

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Miles Rice is the floor Indiana in general needs.

Washington State point guard Miles Rice was one of the best stories in college basketball last season. Rice was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s lymphoma after enrolling during the 2021-2022 season and spent two years recovering. He debuted last season as an older freshman and quickly became one of the best players on a solid Cougars team that advanced to the Round of 32 in the NCAA Tournament. He was named the 2024 Pac-12 Freshman of the Year at the end of the season.

At 6-foot-3, Rice has the size to be a lead guard. He was more of a playmaker than a scorer, finishing the year with an impressive assist rate of 22.7 percent. Rice isn’t a great three-point shooter, shooting only 27.5 percent from deep last year, but he did make a lot of triples (131 threes) and shot 81 percent from the foul line. suggests he might get a chance. He will make great strides as a shooter next year. If Rice and Carlisle can improve as shooters, Rice as a playmaker and Carlisle as a scorer, they complement each other well.

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Oumar Balo was the best center

Kael Ware was Indiana’s biggest bright spot last season. The former McDonald’s All-American transferred from Oregon State after a lackluster freshman year, but as soon as he arrived in Bloomington he reminded everyone just how good he was. Ware will drop out of school after the season and enter the 2024 NBA Draft, where he is expected to be a first-round pick. Woodson targeted Burro after two great seasons in Arizona and committed to Indiana after a reported $1.2 million NIL payment.

At 7 feet tall and 260 pounds, Burro is the type of big man the team needs to compete in the Big Ten. He has already been a productive and efficient scorer for one of the best teams in the country for multiple seasons. He is a good rebounder and can play drop coverage while blocking shots to the rim. Barro ranked in the top 20 in the nation in offensive and defensive rebounding percentage, and his block rate of 5 percent ranked 175th in the nation. ESPN rated Baro as the top overall player on the portal..

Indiana still has 3 open scholarships

Woodson already has three starters in the portal. With Trey Galloway, Mackenzie Mbako and Malik Luhnow returning from last year’s team, Indiana is building a deep veteran team with a high ceiling.

There are still three scholarships available and the Hoosiers are targeting just one. That’s shooting.

An intriguing shooter entered the transfer portal on Monday when Illinois wing Luke Good turned in his paperwork. Good is a 6-foot-7 wing who shot 38.8 percent from three in three seasons at the University of Illinois. Good, a native of Fort Wayne, Ind., has ties to Indiana throughout his family, including his uncle Trent Green, a former NFL QB.

Indiana will have no excuse for missing the NCAA Tournament next season. The Hoosiers are expected to enter the season competing near the top of the Big Ten, as Purdue and Illinois have swapped large portions of their rosters. Indiana added two great guards and an experienced and productive big man, but still has a few roster spots left.

No player has been more successful in the transfer portal this season than Indiana.