Arizona center Oumar Ballo enters the transfer portal
Arizona center Oumar Ballo has entered his name into the transfer portal per On3’s Jamie Shaw.
Ballo has spent the past three seasons in Tucson after starting his career with two years at Gonzaga.
In his 132 games, Ballo has averaged 9.6 points, 6.6 rebounds, and 1.1 blocks while shooting 64.6% from the field. Most of that has come in his 108 games with the Wildcats, including the past two seasons as a full-time starter in 71 games, where he posted 11.2 points, 7.7 rebounds, and 1.2 blocks on 64.6% overall.
In his first year at Arizona, Ballo was the Sixth Man of the Year in the Pac-12 behind Christian Koloko. He since has emerged in the conference as an all-league player the last two years. In that time, he is a two-time All Pac-12 First Team selection, a Pac-12 All-Defensive Selection and honorable mention, an All Pac-12 Tournament Team member, and was the Pac-12’s Most Improved Player in ’22-’23.
Ball comes from Koulikoro, Mali. In his home country, he participated in the FIBA U16 and U18 African Championship as well as the 2019 FIBA U19 World Cup. He also attended the NBA Academy Latin America, which is where he came out of before going to college at Gonzaga and then Arizona.
Ballo is the third, and, now, most significant, loss for Arizona in the portal during this cycle. Filip Borovicanin and Paulius Murauskas, another pair of foreign bigs, elected to insert their names last week. Now, Ballo joins them with the program having yet to make any additions in the portal in turn.
With this decision, Ballo becomes one of the top available players in the portal per On3’s 2024 College Basketball Transfer Portal Top Players. He is now the No. 3 overall transfer behind only Stanford’s Maxime Raynaud and FAU’s Johnell Davis and the No. 2 center behind only Raynaud.
Ballo looks to be on the move for what will be his sixth season in collegiate basketball with this choice. That availability will bring plenty of suitors to him as one of the best players in the country.
To keep up with the latest players on the move, check out On3’s Transfer Portal wire.