Former Indiana Basketball Player Kanaan Carlyle Is Headed To Florida Atlantic

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – College athletics has become an exercise in falling in fleeting love with the players who represent your favorite team. One year, they’re there; the next, they’re cast to the winds of change and opportunity as the players seek out the destination that puts them in the best position to maximize their talent.

That was the case for the 2025 Indiana men’s basketball roster. With a coaching change from Mike Woodson to Darian DeVries, all players with remaining eligibility at Indiana put themselves in the transfer portal.

All of those former Hoosiers had found their new homes except for guard Kanaan Carlyle. On Friday, he confirmed his destination.

Carlyle announced via his Instagram account that he has committed to Florida Atlantic.

Carlyle had listed FAU – a member of the American Athletic Conference – as one his finalists in April. He chose the Owls over UAB and McNeese State.

Carlyle had a star-crossed single season with Indiana. In a season marred by injuries and illness, Carlyle played in 25 games, starting six for the Hoosiers. He averaged 4 points, 1.6 rebounds and 1.2 assists.

Carlyle’s production fell off dramatically from when he played for Stanford in the 2023-24 season – which is what attracted Indiana to the Atlanta native. Carlyle averaged 11.5 points, 2.7 rebounds and 2.7 assists in his freshman season with the Cardinal in the last season of the Pac-12 Conference. Carlyle never approached that level of production with the Hoosiers.

Shooting was his main issue. After Carlyle shot 38.9% overall and 32% from 3-point range at Stanford, he plummeted to 28.9% overall and 24.3% from 3-point range for the Hoosiers. Despite his low 3-point percentage, Carlyle still attempted 2.8 3-point shots per game while averaging 16.2 minutes. His frequent misses often slowed or stopped Indiana’s offensive rhythm.

Carlyle joins FAU, which reached national prominence under previous coach Dusty May, culminating in a 2023 NCAA Final Four appearance. In FAU’s first season without May, who is now at Michigan, the Owls went 18-16 under coach John Jakus.

Indiana’s other transfers and their destinations from the 2025 roster include Gabe Cupps (Ohio State), Mackenzie Mgbako (Texas A&M), Jakai Newton (Georgia State), Malik Reneau (Miami), Myles Rice (Maryland) and Bryson Tucker (Washington).

Indiana has replenished its roster with the additions of Sam Alexis (Florida), Reed Bailey (Davidson), Tayton Conerway (Troy), Tucker DeVries (West Virginia), Nick Dorn (Elon), Jason Drake (Drexel), Conor Enrght (DePaul), Josh Harris (North Florida), Jasai Miles (North Florida) and Lamar Wilkerson (Sam Houston).

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