IU basketball transfer portal hot board 5.0: Who's in, who's next, who's new?

BLOOMINGTON – An expected busy offseason, has been just that for Mike Woodson and his Indiana staff.

IU, still light four scholarship players with plenty of work to do, will dive right back in. The Hoosiers are lining up visitors for the coming weekends, with a heavy emphasis on positions and roles of need. IndyStar examines those needs, and some names to know as IU’s roster-building efforts accelerate.

Insider: What landing nation's No. 1 transfer Oumar Ballo means for IU, Mike Woodson

'He works his tail off': How IU's Will Sheehey has made an impact on Golden State's staff

Needs

∎ Backcourt impact: An already thin guard rotation lost Xavier Johnson (eligibility) and CJ Gunn (portal) once the season ended. Trey Galloway gives Mike Woodson proven ball-handling and creativity, but he cannot run a one-man show.

Indiana needs shooting and scoring punch, both, here. Players who can get on the ball and make plays, for themselves or others, and players who can stretch the floor in ways last season’s roster too often could not. Myles Rice hands Woodson a point guard with as many as three years of eligibility remaining, upping the Hoosiers' depth of creativity and giving Woodson another lead guard around which to build his ball-screen offense. Now, Indiana must add players for whom Rice can create.

∎ Backcourt depth: Simplistic, yes. But there’s an extent to which Indiana just needs bodies in its backcourt. Galloway and Gabe Cupps are the only guards returning to play at least 50% of available minutes last season. The growth of Anthony Leal’s role in Big Ten play shouldn’t be overlooked, but it’s not by itself a cure-all. Rice should see serious minutes. He shouldn't be alone.

∎ Floor spacing: It’s long past time Indiana had the tools necessary to shoot 3-pointers with both accuracy and efficiency. Oumar Ballo gives the Hoosiers more punch inside once again. Now, they need to give him (and Malik Reneau) room to move. That means adding at least two players with an established track record shooting the ball well. It also means bolstering the roster with players used to the kind of volume the Hoosiers so desperately need.

Names to know

We’ll group these names by position, and list them alphabetically. The usual disclaimer: This is by no means an exhaustive list, and it will be updated. The portal moves fast. Circumstances change rapidly in college basketball. Just ask Mitch Barnhart. Let’s roll.

COMMITMENTS

Oumar Ballo (read more)

The Arizona transfer is among the most recognizable big men in the country. A dominant force, particularly defensively and on the glass, for the Wildcats across the last two seasons, ESPN ranked Ballo the No. 1 available transfer in his class as recently as Tuesday morning.

By Tuesday afternoon, he was a Hoosier. Ballo committed at the conclusion of a three-day visit to Bloomington, handing Woodson yet another dominant rim presence. Ballo is a distinct player to Trayce Jackson-Davis and Kel'el Ware. But like those bigs before him, he'll move from Tucson to Bloomington knowing he's going to play for a coach that knows how to use bigs effectively.

Kanaan Carlyle

Carlyle became Indiana's third portal commitment in this window over the weekend, when he announced his commitment during a visit to Bloomington. A do-it-all guard for Stanford last season, Carlyle averaged 11.5 points, 2.7 rebounds and 2.7 assists per game. He finished the season with a clutch of impressive scoring games and a solid assist rate in conference play. He could also stand to cut down on turnovers, and his 32% number from behind the 3-point line needs improving, but IU won't ask Carlyle to be what he was for Stanford. He can get his own shots, and create for others, but with players like Myles Rice and Trey Galloway beside him, Carlyle can also do more work off the ball, hunting catch-and-shoot opportunities that will probably improve his averages.

In all, Carlyle looks like a solid add.

Myles Rice (Read more)

The reigning Pac-12 freshman of the year, Rice pulled the strings for surprise package Washington State during the Cougars’ best season in a decade and a half last winter. He averaged 14.8 points, 3.1 rebounds and 3.8 assists per game in his first competitive collegiate season. Rice was not just one of Washington State’s best players — if not the Cougars’ best — but also among the Pac-12’s best creators.

Now, Rice is Bloomington-bound. If Woodson had a wish list at point guard, Rice probably topped it. That's one wish come true.

GUARDS

It’s not surprising to see a lot of IU’s focus right now trained on the backcourt. As previously discussed, the Hoosiers need both depth and impact as they rebuild their guard rotation, and that could mean trying to take as many as four guards out of the portal this cycle.

Luke Goode

Goode is a recent addition to this list. He entered the portal Monday morning, and Indiana buzz followed soon after. A Fort Wayne native, Goode's reputation has always stood first on his shooting ability. Goode made 38.8% of his 3s over three seasons at Illinois, where he never shot under 37% in a single season. As a junior, Goode made 61-of-157 3s, far and away his greatest single-season volume, for an Illinois outfit that advanced to the Elite Eight before losing to eventual national champion UConn. Goode would fill an immediate role as a catch-and-shoot backcourt player who also brings good size (he's listed at 6-7) and Big Ten experience to a roster rapidly reconstructing itself into something more competitive next season.

Leland Walker

Another Indianapolis native on this list, Walker popped up early in the portal cycle in connection with Indiana. The North Central grad averaged 15.4 points and 4.1 assists per game last season as a sophomore at Eastern Kentucky, and his two-year numbers suggest he’s ready for a step up in competitive level.

Things have since slowed with Walker and the Hoosiers (not uncommon in a calendar that moves in fits and starts), but there are plenty of ways Walker fits what IU needs. This recruitment could come down to roster spots and playing time, as much as anything.

WINGS/FORWARDS

IU already has good options here, with Mackenzie Mgbako confirmed returning and five-star Bryson Tucker inbound after a whirlwind recruitment culminated in his commitment earlier this spring. Indiana’s need here might be style-dependent — if Woodson wants to play a smaller, more positionally fluid brand of basketball next season, more wing depth is a requirement.

Zach Anderson

Indiana fans might remember Anderson, who hit five 3s on his way to 19 points and seven rebounds in the Hoosiers' closer-than-expected win over Florida Gulf Coast in last year's opener. He's in the portal now, and there's been persistent talk of a visit to Bloomington for a few days. Until that gets nailed down, it's difficult to gauge exactly where things stand between player and program. An outstanding 3-point shooting (45.9%) last season who also averaged 12.8 points and 5.1 rebounds, Anderson would make a lot of sense for IU, depending upon the role being sold to him.

One of the best catch-and-shoot players in the portal (if not the country), Anderson visited Bloomington at the tail end of Little 500 weekend.

Ben Humrichous

It’s been a remarkable rise for Humrichous. The Tipton native was playing at Huntington University two years ago, then spent last year starring at Evansville before portaling this window. In 23 games with the Purple Aces, Humrichous hit 53-of-126 3s (42.1%) while finishing 2s at a respectable rate and taking on an increased load in conference play. A 6-9 forward with tweener skills, Humrichous finished last season with a true shooting percentage of 0.613, which would’ve ranked him second among Hoosiers behind only Kel’el Ware in 2023-24.

Adou Thiero

We removed Thiero from our initial list, as contact didn't seem to have developed into anything more between IU and the Kentucky forward. Then Thiero trimmed his list to five schools and mentioned Indiana among them, so we'll bring him back at least for now. Of those five (UK, Arkansas, UNC and Pitt being the other four), IU probably isn't the likeliest landing spot. Transferring home to Pittsburgh might make the most sense for Thiero, but he's got options. The Hoosiers remain among them, just perhaps not very seriously at this time.

CENTERS

We'll keep this section here now, given IU might still be hunting for some depth behind Ballo and Reneau. As names either fall away or stay in frame, we can update this list. Indiana could look for like-for-like depth, or reach for a change-of-pace big. Just a handful of names here.

Elijah Malone

As interesting as any name on this board, Malone won small-college player-of-the-year honors last season at Grace College. The LaGrange native averaged 17.3 points, 8.3 rebounds, 2.5 blocks and 1.9 assists, as he led his team to a 34-2 record and a national semifinal appearance. Malone hit 37% of his 3s and was efficient all around, as a versatile 6-10 forward.

Moore visited Bloomington recently, Indiana's coaches rolling out the red carpet for the versatile forward. This would qualify as firmly change of pace, but Malone's overall profile is fascinating.

Follow IndyStar reporter Zach Osterman on Twitter: @ZachOsterman.

This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Indiana basketball transfer portal hot board priorities, names to know