Indiana Announces Addition of Arizona Transfer Oumar Ballo

Oumar Ballo was a first-team All-Pac-12 center each of the last two seasons at Arizona, and now the 7-footer is transferring to Indiana for his final season of eligibility.

Arizona transfer center Oumar Ballo pictured during his visit to Indiana. / @adamhoward0 on X

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – Indiana officially announced Monday that Arizona transfer Oumar Ballo will join the Hoosiers for the 2024-25 season.

“Oumar is a dominating post presence on both ends of the floor with a winning background," Indiana coach Mike Woodson said in a release. "His experience playing at the highest level will elevate our program. He is a big fella with soft touch around the rim, good hands, and solid footwork. He is very physical and is a perfect fit in our system and our league. We are really happy to welcome Oumar and his family to Bloomington.”

Ballo is currently one of five newcomers, along with freshman Bryson Tucker, Washington State guard transfer Myles Rice, Stanford guard transfer Kanaan Carlyle and Illinois wing transfer Luke Goode. Including freshmen and transfers, that class is currently ranked No. 10 in the nation, per 247 Sports, and it's the No. 1 class of transfers. Indiana still has two open scholarships.

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— Indiana Basketball (@IndianaMBB) April 29, 2024

Here's the full news release from Indiana Athletics on Ballo.

Ballo, a two-time All-Pac-12 selection, arrives at Indiana after spending five seasons at Arizona and Gonzaga.

The 7-0, 260-pound center averaged 11.2 points, 7.7 rebounds, and 1.2 blocks per game in three seasons at Arizona. He shot 64.6% (466-of-721) from the floor and posted 34 double-doubles, third most in Arizona basketball history. He was one of 10 players in program history to accumulate at least 1,000 career points and 800 career rebounds. Ballo was twice named to the All-Pac-12 First Team, selected to the Pac-12 All-Defensive Team two times, and voted to a pair of Pac-12 All-Tournament Teams. He was named the 2022-23 Pac-12 Most Improved Player, the 2022 Maui Invitational Most Outstanding Player, and the 2021-22 Pac-12 Sixth Man of the Year.

Ballo began his career at Gonzaga with a redshirt season in 2019-20 before earning a spot in the rotation for a Bulldog program that finished 31-1, won both the West Coast Conference regular season and tournament titles, and advanced to the NCAA Championship game. Overall, Ballo has won 84.8% (112-of-132) of the games he has appeared in throughout his career.

Prior to his collegiate career, Ballo was highly successful in the international scene and was tabbed the top international prospect by ESPN's Jonathan Givony in 2019. He led Mali to its best-ever finish (2nd) at the 2019 FIBA U19 World Cup, the highest-ever finish by an African team. He was named to the tournament's All-Star Five after he averaged 17.6 points (7th in the tournament), 11.8 rebounds (1st), and 3.8 blocks (1st) while shooting 52.4% from the floor in five tournament games.