A closer look at the transfer portal players linked to Indiana

The dead period for college basketball recruiting runs through Thursday, but visits and commitments are expected to pick up quickly across the country soon after it concludes.

Indiana has six open scholarships for the 2024-25 roster and is looking to add impact players from the transfer portal.

Here’s a look at many of the transfer portal players – listed alphabetically under each category – who have been linked to Indiana as the end of the dead period approaches:

Guards/wings

Cade Tyson, Belmont, 6-foot-7, forward

One of the better available shooters in the transfer portal, Tyson is a wing originally from Monroe, North Carolina. As a sophomore at Belmont, he averaged 16.2 points, 5.9 rebounds and 1.6 assists in 31.7 minutes per game.

While those numbers are very good, they look even better when you dig into his shooting splits. He shot 46.5 percent on 3s and 85.5 percent from the free-throw line.

Because he looks like a surefire starter at his next stop, the fit with Indiana is unclear because Mackenzie Mgbako is returning to Bloomington and the Hoosiers also landed a commitment from Bryson Tucker. To this point, Tyson hasn’t released a formal list of schools and the only Indiana mention has been in some preliminary contact lists shortly after he entered the portal.

Scouting video: Link

Connor Essegian, Wisconsin, 6-foot-4, guard

Essegian was one of the top freshmen in the Big Ten back in the 2022-23 season, but his role was limited last season with the Badgers.

The Fort Wayne native played just 7.3 minutes per game and shot only 30.3 percent on 3s. If those numbers were all there was to consider, Essegian wouldn’t seem to be much of a target.

But Essegian’s freshman season showed why he has promise as a floor spacer at the high major level. He shot 35.9 percent from distance in his first season and averaged 11.7 points. He’s also a career 88.7 percent free throw shooter.

A recent update from Jamie Shaw at On3 ($) listed Indiana, Michigan and South Carolina as schools to watch for Essegian.

Scouting video: Link

Connor Hickman, Bradley, 6-foot-3, guard

A Bloomington native, Hickman was expected to visit Indiana prior to the dead period, but the visit will now take place this coming weekend on April 14.

The Hoosiers recently conducted an in-home visit with Hickman, a former teammate of Anthony Leal at Bloomington South.

As a junior at Bradley, Hickman averaged 14.5 points, 3.4 rebounds, 2.9 assists, and 1.2 steals in 32.3 minutes per game and was named third-team All-MVC. He can also light it up from the perimeter and connected at a 40.2 percent clip from distance last season.

With Indiana’s need for 3-point shooting and the recent success of MVC players like Marcus Domask and Lance Jones moving up to the Big Ten, Hickman looks like a player who could help the Hoosiers next winter.

Scouting video: Link

Kanaan Carlyle, Stanford, 6-foot-3, guard

The Atlanta, Georgia native had an up-and-down freshman season with the Cardinal, but there’s no denying his talent.

Carlyle averaged 11.5 points, 2.7 rebounds and 2.7 assists in 25.6 minutes per game and was named to the honorable mention All-Pac 12 freshman team.

He scored in double figures 15 times in his freshman season and poured in a career-best 31 points against Washington State, an NCAA tournament team, in January.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *