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.

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

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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