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Arizona transfer Oumar Ballo announced his commitment to Indiana today.
Ballo, a 7-foot, 260-pound center from Koulikoro, Mali, has one season of eligibility remaining and just completed a visit to Bloomington.
He chose the Hoosiers over interest from Arkansas, Louisville, Kansas State, North Carolina, Florida and others. In the latest 247Sports transfer portal rankings, Ballo is considered the No. 1 in the portal.
Ballo averaged 12.9 points, 10.1 rebounds and 1.3 blocks in 25.9 minutes per game last season for the Wildcats.
He started his career at Gonzaga and will turn 22 in July.
In 132 career games between Arizona and Gonzaga, Ballo averaged 9.6 points, 6.6 rebounds and 1.1 blocks in 19.8 minutes per game.
He owns a career 64.6 field goal percentage and a career 56.4 free throw percentage.
The scouting report on Ballo from CJ Moore of The Athletic:
Ballo is one of the best in college basketball at carving out opportunities in the post and giving his guards a big goal. He is perfect in any offense that hits the pin. Arizona built its defense around Ballo’s ability to protect the rim and take advantage of the drop zone. He doesn’t block a lot of shots (1.3 per game) but he’s hard to score on and is a nice player.
He can be picked up in coverage against talented guards. Arizona’s beat rate had some guards who knew how to handle the drop and/or size that could jump. Foot speed will always be an issue. Ballo is a double-double machine, averaging 12.9 points and 10.1 points per game. He shot 65.8 percent from the field but his strength was knocked out by his poor free throw shooting — a career-low 49.5 percent as a senior. His usage has decreased as Arizona has relied heavily on its guards this season, but Ballo is talented enough to fuel an offense.
And Ballo’s resume from last season in Arizona:
2023-24 (Redshirt Senior Season)
• All-Pac-12 First Team
• Pac-12 All-Defensive Team
• Arizona’s career leader in Field Goal Pct. (64.6%)
• Pac-12 Tournament All-Tournament Team
• One of 10 players in Arizona history with 1,000 career tackles and 800 career rebounds as a Wildcat
• His 34 career doubles is tied for third in Arizona history
• His 20 doubles in 2023-24 are tied for the third-most in a season in Arizona history.
• He joins Deandre Ayton (24), Al Fleming (22) and Jordan Hill (20) as the only Wildcats to record 20 or more doubles in a season.
• Ranks 7th in Arizona history with 134 career blocks
• 8th in Arizona history in restoration projects (830)
• Became the 54th player in Arizona history to score 1,000 points
• Had a streak of nine straight games with a double-double in the month of February, longest by a Wildcat since Al Fleming in 1974-75.
• Shot 65.8% from the floor for the year, the second-best single-season percentage in Arizona history; he also holds the third-best percentage of 64.7% in the 2022-23 season.
• Pac-12 Player of the Week on Dec. 26 after averaging 15.5 points and 16.5 rebounds against Alabama and FAU
• Pulled down 21 rebounds against FAU, the most since Jordan Hill had 22 in 2008; his nine tackles in a game are the most by a Wildcat since Derrick Williams had nine in 2011.
• Also one of five players named to the USBWA Oscar Robertson National Player of the Week list on December 27
• All-American
• All Pac-12 Team First Round
• Pac-12 Preseason Player of the Year (ESPN.com; Blue Ribbon Magazine)
• Naismith Trophy Preseason Watch List
• Wood Branding Checklist
Submitted to: Oumar Ballo, Door translation