Indiana Basketball Newcomer Focus: Senior center Oumar Ballo

The Indiana basketball program is going to look a whole lot different with many new faces coming in this season, with all 13 scholarships filled for the upcoming year.

In total, Indiana basketball will bring in 7 new faces, replacing 6 departures from a season ago. Mike Woodson and his staff did a phenomenal job in the transfer portal addressing the needs of guards, shooting, and front court depth.

We have already looked at all of the returning players from a season ago in our “Indiana Basketball Returner Focus” series now, it is time for our “Indiana Basketball Newcomer Focus” series to continue our trend of looking at each player of the 2024-25 roster and preview what they bring for the Hoosiers.

Today, we look Arizona senior transfer center Oumar Ballo and look at where he comes from, and what his role will be for Indiana basketball this season.

Where He Comes From

Oumar Ballo had played for two different programs before he made his way to the Indiana basketball program — Gonzaga and most notably, Arizona. Ballo, who is a native of Koulikoro, Mali, started his college career at Gonzaga where he redshirted his first season and appeared in 24 games his second season. He would then transfer to Arizona and spend the next three seasons appearing in 108 games including 71 of those being starts.

Coming out of the NBA Academy Latin America high school program, Ballo was rated as a four-star center and the No. 78 overall player int he 2019 class. He originally chose Gonzaga at the time over Baylor and coincidentally, Arizona.

He is coming off a senior season which saw him average 12.9 points, 10.1 rebounds and 1.3 blocks per game this season in 26 minutes a game while shooting an outstanding 65.8% from the field, almost entirely around the basket. His play led him to earn a spot on the All-Pac 12 First Team.

Ballo had 20 double-doubles this year and five games with at least 14 rebounds. He also scored in double-figures in 31 games.

His best year statistically point-wise was his junior season where he averaged 14.2 points on 64.7% from the field.

Before joining the Indiana basketball, Ballo earned achievements on WCC All-Freshman team at Gonzaga and while at Arizona, he was 2x All-Pac-12 while also earning Pac-12 Most Improved Player and the Pac-12 All-Defensive team as well.

Unlike a lot of players that have transferred multiple times in their college basketball careers, Ballo can claim that he has come from two winning programs in both Gonzaga and Arizona. At Gonzaga, he was part of two West Coast Conference championships as well as two Pac-12 Championships at Arizona.

Ballo spent five years in college before opting to transfer out of Arizona. He received the rare 6th year of eligibility due to him redshirting his freshman season at Gonzaga and utilizing his COVID year.

When Ballo entered the transfer portal, he was rated by many accounts as the No. 1 overall prospects in the portal.

See also: Oumar Ballo was the best player in the transfer portal, but does he fit with Indiana basketball?: ‘I like him talent-wise…I am not sure if I like him next to Malik Reneau and Mackenzie Mgbako.’

Role for 2024-25 Season

Mandatory Credit: Zachary BonDurant-USA TODAY Sports

When Ballo entered his name into the transfer portal, you could have almost bet all your money that Mike Woodson was going to get involved due to how much he loves to have dominant big man in the front court. For Ballo, it just made a whole lot of sense for him to have interest in Indiana basketball and Mike Woodson due to Woodson’s success in developing bigs in Trayce Jackson-Davis and Kel’el Ware — both who are currently in the NBA.

After an official visit to Indiana, Ballo would commit to the Hoosiers in April, less than a month after the portal officially opened.

The role for Oumar Ballo is pretty simple in reality: Be the primary big for Indiana basketball in the front court and replace the interior production of Kel’el Ware.

While Ballo is not the exact player that Kel’el Ware was, he is more the capable to fill the void and production that was left of the former Indiana basketball center. Ballo is a much different type of center than what Indiana basketball got used to seeing last season in Ware. For starters, you will NEVER see Ballo stretch the floor beyond 10 feet at the very max.

In his four total years as an active college player, Ballo has never taken a three point shot. His game is simple: he is going to use his body, power, and explosiveness around the rim to score. He scores at the rim 66% of the time with 88% of his attempts alone coming from around the rim. At 7-foot, 260-pounds, Ballo has been one of the best true centers in the country the past few seasons because he sticks to what he is comfortable with and does not try to to expand his game beyond his capabilities.

On the defensive end of the floor, the production that Ware had at protecting rim does not really go away with Ballo either. While there is a slight decrease in the shot blocking per game (Ware 1.9 bpg, Ballo 1.3 bpg), Ballo is a much harder player for the opposing bigs to play in the post up position due to his massive size and strength. While he is not as lanky and skilled as Ware, he is much stronger. Ballo also has a 4.9 % block rate, which will again make it difficult for any player to score at the rim with Ballo on the floor.

Ballo, in theory, should also pair extremely well with junior power forward Malik Reneau. With what is expected to be an emphasis on Reneau to stretch out his offensive game much more this season, the pairing of the two could make for one of the more well-rounded front court duos you could see in all of college basketball, especially in the Big Ten.

The role that Ballo will play for Indiana will once again make the front court of the Hoosiers their No. 1 strength. Mike Woodson will not go away from his inside-out style and while some fans may not like it, the roster that Woodson and his staff put together this season can make that style work. If you want to run an inside-out style of play, you have to have dynamic guards and elite perimeter shooting and Indiana basketball looks to have that this season.

With that said, there needs to be a good balance of how Mike Woodson utilizes his front court. It needs to become more versatile than what it has been the last few years in order for Indiana basketball to have success this season.

“My single, biggest concern with Indiana is going to be whether or not Mike Woodson falls in love with the idea of having to play Oumar Ballo and Malik Reneau together,” said Rob Dauster of the Field of 68. “If you can find a way, if you can find it in your heart Woody, if you can find a way to be able have those guys maybe alternate, maybe play them both 23 minutes a game and you got three minutes where both of them are on the floor at the same time, let them swap out at the five spot and be able to get (Mackenzie) Mgbako at the four, be able to take advantage of the fact that someone like Bryson Tucker might be a mismatch guy.”

Oumar Ballo will be an extremely important piece to Indiana basketball in order for the Hoosiers to have success next season. He’s an older big that knows his role, his strengths, and how to avoid his weaknesses.

Indiana basketball arguably got the best player in the transfer portal this offseason. Ballo will make an immediate impact for Indiana.

Notable Quotes

“Oumar is a dominating post presence on both ends of the floor with a winning background,” said Mike Woodson. “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.”

“I like him talent-wise. I like him because he’s older. I like him because he averaged a double-double,” said Jeff Goodman on The Field of 68. “I am not sure if I like him next to Malik Reneau and Mackenzie Mgbako. Again, my biggest question mark with Mike Woodson a year ago was roster construction and it remains my biggest question just because again, you just can’t accumulate talent. That doesn’t always work.”

SEE ALSO: One question facing all 12 Indiana basketball players entering the summer

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