As a player brought in to make shots off the ball, Illinois transfer wing Luke Goode is excited about Indiana’s new dynamic backcourt duo.
Myles Rice and Kanaan Carlyle arrived in Bloomington this month both coming off All Pac-12 recognition as freshmen in 2023-24. They represent the centerpiece of an acknowledgement by Mike Woodson and his staff that “you win with good guard play,” as the fourth-year head coach put it in late May.
Goode has been working out on the court with Rice, Carlyle and the rest of his new teammates for the last few weeks, and the two guards from Atlanta have made an impression.
Rice is expected to be the starting point guard for the Hoosiers when the ball tips in November.
The 6-foot-3 and 180-pound Rice rewrote the school freshman record book at Washington State, breaking the single-game scoring, single-season scoring, single-season steals, single-season assists, single-season field goals, and single-season free throw percentage records. He averaged 14.8 points per game and led the Cougars to the NCAA Tournament for the first time in 16 years.
Rice added 3.8 assists, 3.1 rebounds, and 1.6 steals per game.
“Myles is special, man. He is tough. I like him a lot. He’s going to be a really good player,” Goode said on the Sleepers Media podcast this week.
Whether trailing in transition or finding open space as Rice navigates ball screens, Goode is learning to be ready to shoot when Rice has the ball.
“Myles comes into practice and he’s getting five, six, seven, eight assists in practice. So he’s special,” Goode said.
Meanwhile it is Carlyle’s speed and athleticism that stands out to Goode so far.
Carlyle, who is being mentioned as a potential first-round pick in the 2025 NBA Draft, averaged 11.5 points, 2.7 rebounds and 2.7 assists on the season for Stanford, and 12.5 points per night in Pac-12 play.
Goode has played on two Big Ten title teams and can only think of one player who can match the Stanford transfer’s speed. And that other player was just drafted this week.
“Kanaan’s gifted, too. He’s super quick,” Goode said. “He’s probably the second-fastest player that I’ve played with other than Terrence Shannon Jr., just in terms of having the ball in the open floor. I mean, he’s like 6-foot, 6-1 and dunking on people. It’s pretty impressive, he’s got athleticism.
“Those two guys, man, it’s going to be fun to play with them, for sure, because they can both pass, too.”
With himself, Rice and Carlyle, along with Oumar Ballo, Malik Reneau, Mackenzie Mgbako, and Trey Galloway as a seven-man core with proven college ability, Goode sees the potential to win a third Big Ten title in four years.
“My favorite thing to do is win championships. So I think this team has a good chance to win a championship this year,” he said.
“I think we have a real chance to put it all together. Coach Woodson, I know he gets a lot of hate, but I think he’s one of the better coaches I’ve been coached by already. So he knows what he’s doing, he really respects relationships and everybody loves to play for him, so that’s what you can see here, for sure.”
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