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IU basketball center Oumar Ballo among nominees on Naismith Player of the Year preseason watch list

IU basketball center added preseason national honors on Wednesday afternoon, being named to the Naismith Player of the Year watch list.

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IU basketball center added preseason national honors on Wednesday afternoon, being named to the Naismith Player of the Year watch list. (Indiana Basketball)

It’s ‘Watch List Season’ ahead of the start of the year next week and IU basketball center Oumar Ballo was among the nominees for the Naismith Player of the Year.

Ballo is a senior who transferred to Indiana from Arizona where he averaged 12.9 points, 10.1 rebounds and 1.3 blocks per game a season ago. He shot 65.8 percent from the floor and had 20 double-doubles.

He was a two-time All-Pac-12 First Team selection as well as All-Pac-12 Defensive Team twice with the Wildcats.

The 7-foot, 260-pound center is a terrific rebounder and defender. He is best on the offensive glass as he led the Pac-12 in offensive rebound rate (15.1) and first in total rebound rate (21.1). Defensively, his block rate (5.0) was fifth in the Pac-12. He also led the league in defensive rating (92.7).

Over the past two seasons, Ballo has been a staple in the lineup starting all 71 games he played in. In total, he had 108 appearances in three seasons with Arizona.

During IU’s exhibition game against No. 12 Tennessee on Sunday, Ballo finished with eight points, 11 rebounds and one block in 32 minutes of action.

Ballo looks to be the third-consecutive center to be drafted from Indiana, joining Trayce Jackson-Davis and Kel’el Ware. Albeit different skillsets, their development was instrumental in bringing Ballo to Bloomington.

“Two years ago I played against Kel’el when he was at Oregon and from that Kel’el to last year, it’s a huge transition,” Ballo said at IU basketball media day. ” … In a span of nine months, he was a completely different player. That is not a cheat code. It’s the work the coaching staff is doing to help guys out. That for sure effected my decision coming here.

“He’s (Woodson) done a lot of good things with big guys. That’s why I’m here.”

In addition to his Naismith preseason honor, Ballo was also named to the preseason All-Big Ten team.

IU basketball has one final exhibition on Friday vs Marian before the regular season tips off next week.

SEE ALSO: Myles Rice ‘was who we thought he was’ for IU basketball in exhibition win — showing glimpses of just how important he’ll be this season

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Alec Lasley is the owner of Hoosier Illustrated, a comprehensive site covering news, updates and recruiting for Indiana University athletics. Alec has covered Indiana for six years and is a credentialed media member. He has previously worked for both Rivals and 247Sports.

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