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Indiana lands Arizona's Oumar Ballo, college basketball transfer portal's No. 1 overall player – 247Sports
Indiana has landed the No. 1 ranked player in the country in the 247Sports Transfer Portal rankings, Arizona center Oumar Ballo. IU hosted Ballo for an official visit this weekend.
Ballo is a 7-foot, 260-pound center. He has one year of college eligibility remaining.
Last season, as a fifth-year senior, Ballo started 36 games and averaged 12.9 points, 10.1 rebounds and 1.3 blocks per game. He shot 65.8% from the field on all 2-point attempts and 49.5% at the free-throw line.
Ballo’s career-best campaign came as a junior in the 2022-23 season when he averaged 14.2 points, 8.6 rebounds and 1.3 blocks in 27.6 minutes per game. He shot 64.7% from the field and 56.5% at the free-throw line.
The Mali native began has career at Gonzaga, redshirting in the 2019-20 season and appearing in 24 games off the bench in the 2020-21 season. Ballo transferred to Arizona ahead of the 2021-22 season and spent three years as a key frontcourt player for the Wildcats.
For his career, Ballo has played in 132 games with 71 starts, averaging 9.6 points, 6.6 rebounds and 1.1 blocks. His career field-goal percentage is 64.6% while never attempting a 3-pointer, and he’s shot 56.4% at the free-throw line.
Ballo was named First Team Pac-12, Pac-12 All-Tournament team and was on the Pac-12 All-Defensive Team.
He is one of only 10 players in Arizona history to have 1,000 career points and 800 career rebounds as a Wildcat.
His 34 career double-doubles are the third most in Arizona basketball history, and his 20 double-doubles in the 2023-24 season are tied for the third most at Arizona.
Ballo, Deandre Ayton (24), Al Fleming (22) and Jordan Hill (20) are the only Arizona players with 20 or more double-doubles in a season.
Indiana entered this offseason with six returning scholarship players, including Mackenzie Mgbako, Malik Reneau, Trey Galloway, Anthony Leal, Gabe Cupps and Jakai Newton.
The Hoosiers filled the first of seven scholarship openings when McDonald’s All-American wing Bryson Tucker announced his commitment to Indiana.
IU has added two players in the transfer portal, the 7-foot Ballo and Washington State point guard Myles Rice. Rice has three years of eligibility remaining.
This is two years in a row that Indiana has landed an elite center in the transfer portal.
Ballo commits to IU one year after IU landed Kel’el Ware, who is now projected to be an NBA Draft pick after one year at IU.
As the roster stands at this moment in time, Rice projects to be IU’s starting point guard and Ballo projects to be IU’s starting center.
The IU roster as it stands today
Returning:
– Trey Galloway (G, Sr.)
– Anthony Leal (G, Sr.)
– Malik Reneau (F, So.)
– Jakai Newton (G, Fr.)
– Gabe Cupps (G, Fr.)
– Mackenzie Mgbako (F, Fr.)
Additions for 2024-25:
– Myles Rice, 6-foot-2 point guard, Washington State, three years of eligibility remaining.
– Oumar Ballo, 7-foot center, Arizona, one year of eligibility remaining.
– Bryson Tucker, 6-foot-7 wing, Bishop O’Connell (VA), ranked No. 27 by 247Sports, McDonald’s All-American.
Leaving:
– Kel’el Ware (C, So.): Announced for the NBA Draft
– Kaleb Banks (F, So.): Entered the transfer portal
– C.J. Gunn (G, So.): Transferring to DePaul
– Payton Sparks (C/F, Jr.): Transferring to Ball State
– Xavier Johnson (G, 6th year): Graduation
– Anthony Walker (F, 5th year): Graduation
— Jared Kelly contributed to this article.
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