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IU basketball lands Arizona transfer Oumar Ballo, nation's top-ranked player in portal

BLOOMINGTON – IU basketball landed a commitment from one of the top players in the transfer portal Tuesday, when Arizona center Oumar Ballo announced his decision to transfer to IU via social media.

One of the best rebounders in the country across the past two seasons, Ballo averaged 12.9 points and 10.1 rebounds last season (and 14.2 ppg and 8.6 rpg the year before that) at Arizona. He’s never finished with a single-season field goal percentage lower than 62.2%, and he helped anchor offenses in Tucson that ranked among the most efficient in the country across the past three seasons.

Insider: What landing nation's No. 1 transfer Oumar Ballo means for IU, Mike Woodson

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Ballo is On3.com's top-ranked available player in the transfer portal. (Stanford's Maxime Raynaud was rated No. 1 but is headed back to Palo Alto).

Oumar Ballo #11 of the Arizona Wildcats celebrates in a game against the Clemson Tigers during the second half in the Sweet 16 round of the NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament at Crypto.com Arena on March 28, 2024 in Los Angeles.
Oumar Ballo #11 of the Arizona Wildcats celebrates in a game against the Clemson Tigers during the second half in the Sweet 16 round of the NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament at Crypto.com Arena on March 28, 2024 in Los Angeles.

In efficiency terms, Ballo dominated the Pac-12 in the post last season. He finished first, second and fourth, respectively, in offensive rebound rate, defensive rebound rate and 2-point field goal percentage. Ballo only failed to scored in double figures five times in 36 games last winter.

He fills a need at the five spot for Indiana, with Kel’el Ware bound for the NBA draft. Woodson has always valued a strong finisher who could dominate opponents at both rims, and in Ballo, he might have his best defensive presence yet.

This offseason, IU has already added Pac-12 Freshman of the Year point guard Myles Rice (No. 17-ranked player in portal) and five-star forward McDonald's All American Bryson Tucker this offseason.

Mike Woodson has four more open scholarships for the 2024-25 roster and this Little 500 weekend will be another important one with visitors lined up. Bloomington South grad and Bradley transfer Connor Hickman, who visited IU on Sunday, committed to Cincinnati on Monday.

Oumar Ballo highlights

Follow IndyStar reporter Zach Osterman on Twitter: @ZachOsterman.

This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Arizona transfer Oumar Ballo commits to Indiana Hoosiers basketball