Stanford transfer Kanaan Carlyle commits to Indiana

  • 04/20/2024 5:13 pm in

Stanford transfer Kanaan Carlyle announced his commitment to Indiana today.

A native of Atlanta, Georgia, Carlyle averaged 11.5 points, 2.7 rebounds and 2.7 assists in 25.6 minutes per game as a freshman for the Cardinal.

He was named to the honorable mention All Pac-12 freshman team last season and was named the Associated Press national player of the week on Jan. 2.

Carlyle played his final high school season for Overtime Elite before going to Stanford. His first three high school seasons were played at Milton High School. He chose Stanford over Auburn and Baylor out of high school.

In his lone season in Palo Alto, he scored in double figures 15 times and had a career-high 31 points against Washington State on Jan. 18. The 31-point effort was the most ever in a game by a Stanford freshman.

Carlyle, a 6-foot-3, 185-pound guard, shot 38.6 percent from the field, 32 percent on 3s, and 77.6 percent from the free-throw line.

He has three seasons of eligibility remaining.

Here’s a scouting report on Carlyle from Sam Vecenie of The Athletic:

For a minute this season, it looked like Carlyle might end up as a one-and-done. After missing the first month of the campaign, Carlyle averaged 15.4 points, 3.4 rebounds and 2.8 assists in his first 11 games of the season, including a monster 28-point performance against Arizona where he drilled six 3s and lived at the foul line. Then, the second half of the season happened. In his final 12 games, he averaged just 7.9 points, had more turnovers than assists and shot just 31.7 percent from the field. His shooting from distance fell off a bit and his handle was a bit looser than I’d seen at lower levels, which prevented him from getting into the paint as consistently as someone with his tools should.

While I don’t think Carlyle is wired to be a true point guard, his demeanor is fantastic. He’s relentless and aggressive in constantly attacking the rim, and while Stanford’s defense was messy, I always thought he was tough and willing to crawl into his opponent’s space. If he gets his pull-up jumper back to where it was to start this season, he can be the kind of three-level collegiate scorer who makes a high-major all-conference team at some point. Carlyle is from the Atlanta area and could look to move back south following his trip to the West Coast.

And Carlyle’s bio from his time at Stanford:

Career Highlights:

• All-Pac-12 Freshman Team honorable mention (2024)
• Associated Press National Player of the Week (Jan. 2, 2024)
• Dick Vitale Diaper Dandy of the Week (Jan. 2, 2024)
• Pac-12 Freshman of the Week (Jan. 2, 2024)

As a Freshman (2023-24):

• All-Pac-12 Freshman Team honorable mention
• Associated Press National Player of the Week (Jan. 2)
• Dick Vitale Diaper Dandy of the Week (Jan. 2)
• Pac-12 Freshman of the Week (Jan. 2)
• Appeared in 23 games with 16 starts
• Averaged 11.5 points, 2.7 rebounds and 2.7 assists per game.
• Ranks seventh all-time at Stanford among freshmen in scoring average, eighth in free throw percentage (.776) and 11th in made 3-pointers (32)
• Scored in double figures 15 times, led by a career-best 31 points against Washington State (Jan. 18). The 31 points broke Stanford’s single-game record by a freshman, previously 30 held by Chasson Randle (2012) and Todd Lichti (1985)
• Tallied 28 points on just 13 shots against No. 4/4 (Dec. 31) in a 100-82 win. 28 points off the bench were the most by a Stanford player since Aaron Bright had 29 in 2012.
• Added 22 points in an overtime win at Oregon State (Jan. 11)

Before Stanford

• Consensus four-star, top-60 recruit. Ranked No. 45 overall by ESPN and No. 50 by On3. Was a five star recruit at the time of his signing, ranked No. 15 overall by ESPN.
• Fourth-ranked player in the state of Georgia and fifth-ranked combo guard in the country
• Played first three high school seasons at Milton, joined Overtime Elite for his senior season. Averaged 9.0 points, 3.2 rebounds and 3.7 assists per game for the YNG Dreamers within OTE, led the YNG Dreamers to the OTE Championship game.
• Led Milton to a Georgia state championship as a sophomore in 2021.
• Won the gold medal at the 2022 FIBA U18 Americas championship with USA Basketball in Tijuana, Mexico. Averaged 4.0 points and 2.8 rebounds per game as one of the youngest players on the team
• Picked Stanford over Baylor and Auburn

Filed to: ,