Indiana Hoosiers | |
---|---|
Position | Center |
League | Big Ten Conference |
Personal information | |
Born | Koulikoro, Mali | 13 July 2002
Listed height | 7 ft 0 in (2.13 m) |
Listed weight | 260 lb (118 kg) |
Career information | |
High school |
Canterbury Academy ( Las Palmas, Spain) |
College | |
Career highlights and awards | |
| |
Medals |
Oumar Ballo (born 13 July 2002) is a Malian college basketball player for the Indiana Hoosiers of the Big Ten Conference. He previously played for the Arizona Wildcats and Gonzaga Bulldogs. Listed at 7 feet 0 inches (2.13 m) and 260 pounds (118 kg), he plays the center position.
Ballo grew up in Koulikoro, Mali playing football as a goalkeeper but shifted his focus to basketball due to his exceptional height. [1] [2] His mother and brother, who had moved to France at age 15 to play the latter sport, encouraged him to switch to basketball. [1] As a child, Ballo idolized National Basketball Association (NBA) player Shaquille O'Neal. [3]
When he was 11 years old, Ballo began training with coach Mohamed Diarra in his hometown, eventually earning an invitation from Canterbury Academy, a British private school in Las Palmas, Spain. [4] He enrolled as a full-time student, despite not knowing Spanish or English, and started practicing basketball three times per day. [1] In May 2017, Ballo was named most valuable player (MVP) of the Spain Under-16 Championship after helping Canterbury finish in third place, behind bigger clubs like Barcelona and Real Madrid, and leading the tournament in rebounds. [1] [5] In 2018, he averaged 15.1 points, 10.8 rebounds, and 2.3 blocks per game at the Spanish Junior Championship, earning MVP honors. [6]
In October 2018, Ballo moved to NBA Academy Latin America, a training center in Mexico City sponsored by the NBA, CONADE, and Mexican Basketball Federation. [5] [7] He missed a large portion of the 2018–19 season with an ankle injury. [8] In February 2019, Ballo played at the Basketball Without Borders camp at 2019 NBA All-Star Weekend in Charlotte, North Carolina, where he was one of the youngest participants. [9]
In 2019, Ballo reclassified from the 2020 recruiting class to the 2019 class and was subsequently rated a four-star recruit by 247Sports and a five-star recruit by Rivals. [10] [11] On 23 February 2019, he verbally committed to Gonzaga over offers from Arizona and Baylor, among others. [12] [9]
Name | Hometown | High school / college | Height | Weight | Commit date | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Oumar Ballo C |
Koulikoro, Mali | NBA Academy Latin America (MX) | 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) | 245 lb (111 kg) | Feb 23, 2019 | |
Recruiting star ratings: Scout: N/A Rivals: 247Sports: ESPN: N/A ESPN grade: — | ||||||
Overall recruiting rankings: Rivals: — 247Sports: 66 ESPN: — | ||||||
Sources:
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On 28 October 2019, Ballo was ruled an academic redshirt for the 2019–20 season by the National Collegiate Athletic Association. [13] As a freshman, he averaged 2.5 points and 1.5 rebounds per game, earning West Coast Conference (WCC) All-Freshman Team honors. After the season, Ballo transferred to Arizona to play for head coach Tommy Lloyd, who had recruited him to Gonzaga. [14] As a sophomore, Ballo averaged 6.8 points and 4.4 rebounds per game. He averaged 13.9 points and 8.6 rebounds per game as a junior, earning First Team All-Pac-12 as well as Pac-12 Most Improved Player honors. [15]
Ballo played for Mali at the 2017 FIBA Under-16 African Championship in Vacoas-Phoenix, Mauritius. He averaged 14.4 points and 12.8 rebounds per game, winning the gold medal while making the tournament All-Star Five. [16] Playing for Mali at the 2018 FIBA Under-17 World Cup in Argentina, Ballo averaged 20.6 points and a tournament-high 16.9 rebounds per game and was named to the All-Star Five. [17] On 7 July 2018, he recorded 32 points and a tournament-record 32 rebounds in a 110–108 triple overtime loss to the Dominican Republic. [18] Ballo won a gold medal with Mali at the 2018 FIBA Under-18 African Championship in Bamako, Mali. He averaged 8.5 points and six rebounds per game. [19]
Ballo competed at the 2019 FIBA Under-19 World Cup in Heraklion, Greece, missing the first two games due to visa issues. [20] [21] In five games, he averaged 17.6 points, 11.8 rebounds, and 3.8 blocks per game, leading Mali to a silver medal, the best performance by an African team at a global basketball tournament. [21] Ballo was named to the All-Star Five with teammate Siriman Kanouté. [22]
GP | Games played | GS | Games started | MPG | Minutes per game |
FG% | Field goal percentage | 3P% | 3-point field goal percentage | FT% | Free throw percentage |
RPG | Rebounds per game | APG | Assists per game | SPG | Steals per game |
BPG | Blocks per game | PPG | Points per game | Bold | Career high |
Year | Team | GP | GS | MPG | FG% | 3P% | FT% | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG | PPG |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
2019–20 | Gonzaga | Redshirt | ||||||||||
2020–21 | Gonzaga | 24 | 0 | 6.3 | .629 | – | .552 | 1.5 | .1 | .2 | .3 | 2.5 |
2021–22 | Arizona | 37 | 0 | 15.2 | .622 | – | .701 | 4.4 | .6 | .4 | 1.2 | 6.8 |
2022–23 | Arizona | 35 | 35 | 27.6 | .647 | – | .565 | 8.6 | 1.6 | .7 | 1.3 | 14.2 |
2023–24 | Arizona | 36 | 36 | 26.0 | .658 | – | .495 | 10.1 | .8 | .9 | 1.3 | 12.9 |
Career | 132 | 71 | 19.8 | .646 | – | .564 | 6.6 | .8 | .6 | 1.1 | 9.6 |
Ballo's mother and father stand 1.96 m (6 ft 5 in) and 2.03 m (6 ft 8 in) respectively. His older brother, Drissa, who stands 2.08 m (6 ft 10 in) and weighs 118 kg (260 lbs), plays professional basketball in France. [1]