Indiana Center Oumar Ballo Makes Preseason All-Big Ten Team

After transferring in from Arizona, Indiana center Oumar Ballo was one of 10 players named to the preseason All-Big Ten basketball team ahead of the 2024-25 season.

Jack Ankony | Oct 1, 2024

Indiana center Oumar Ballo made the preseason All-Big Ten basketball team. / photo via Indiana Athletics

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Indiana Hoosiers

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – Indiana center Oumar Ballo made the preseason All-Big Ten team, the conference announced Tuesday.

Ballo is the lone Hoosier on the 10-player team, which was determined by a media vote. Purdue point guard Braden Smith was named preseason Big Ten Player of the Year, and he was the only unanimous selection to the All-Big Ten team.

Here's the full 2024-25 preseason All-Big Ten team.

Ace Baldwin Jr., Penn State
Oumar Ballo, Indiana
Brooks Barnhizer, Northwestern
Dawson Garcia, Minnesota
Dylan Harper, Rutgers
Great Osobor, Washington
Payton Sandfort, Iowa
Jackson Shelstad, Oregon
BRADEN SMITH, PURDUE
Bruce Thornton, Ohio State

Ballo, a sixth-year senior, joins the Hoosiers after three seasons at Arizona and two at Gonzaga. The 7-foot, 265-pound center was a two-time All-Pac-12 First Team selection and made the Pac-12 All-Defensive team last season.

Ballo has played in 132 games with 71 starts across his college career and has a 112-20 record. Over the last two seasons as a starter at Arizona, he averaged 13.5 points, 9.3 rebounds and 1.2 blocks per game while shooting 65.2% from the field. He also ranked top 20 nationally in both offensive and defensive rebounding percentage during the 2023-24 season.

Heading into his first season with the Hoosiers, Ballo, originally from Koulikoro, Mali, has earned several preseason honors, including Preseason Big Ten Newcomer of the Year, Preseason All-Big Ten, and Preseason All-America Fourth Team by Blue Ribbon Yearbook.

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