Arizona transfer Oumar Ballo commits to Indiana
Apr 16, 2024, 11:36 AM
Oumar Ballo #11 of the Arizona Wildcats is fouled by Maxime Raynaud #42 of the Stanford Cardinal in the first half of a quarterfinal game of the Pac-12 basketball tournament at T-Mobile Arena on March 09, 2023 in Las Vegas, Nevada. The Wildcats defeated the Cardinal 95-84. (Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images)
(Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images)
Arizona Wildcats transfer Oumar Ballo committed on Tuesday to play for the Indiana Hoosiers, reports ESPN’s Pete Thamel.
He’s the second Arizona starter transferring to the Big Ten after point guard Kylan Boswell entered the portal and committed to Illinois.
Ballo played the past three years at Arizona since following head coach Tommy Lloyd to Tucson after a freshman year with the Gonzaga Bulldogs. Ballo sat behind Christian Koloko in his sophomore campaign but broke out during the 2022-23 season when he assumed the starting role.
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Ballo averaged 12.9 points and 10.1 rebounds with 1.3 blocks per game this past season, helping the Wildcats earn a No. 2 seed in the NCAA Tournament before advancing to the Sweet 16, where they fell to Clemson.
It was expected he would go pro, and Arizona has options to replace him in the starting lineup.
Lloyd leaned heavily on freshman big man Motijus Krivas, a Lithuanian who this year averaged 5.4 points and 4.2 rebounds in 12.1 minutes per game as the backup center. He played in all 36 games in 2023-24.
Behind Krivas, Estonian big man Henri Veesaar earned a redshirt year after sitting out to recover from an elbow injury.
Arizona’s recruiting class also includes four-star center Emmanuel Stephen, another 7-footer from Dream City Christian in Glendale.
The Wildcats also lost Dylan Anderson, an in-state product who redshirted the 2023-24 season.
