Ballo, leading player in website, dedicates to Indiana

Jeff Borzello, ESPN

• Personnel WriterApr 16, 2024, 02:57 PM ET Close Basketball recruiting expert.
• Signed up with ESPN in 2014.
• Graduate of University of Delaware.Arizona transfer Oumar Ballo,

the No. 1 player in the transfer website, dedicated to Indiana Hoosiers on Tuesday, he told ESPN.Ballo went to the Hoosiers’campus the past couple of days and chose to end his recruitment before taking any other gos to. Louisville, Kansas State, North Carolina, Florida and Arkansas had all pursued Ballo prior to his commitment.A 7-foot center from Mali, Ballo got in the transfer portal recently and right away became the best player available. He’s a two-time first-team All-Pac-12 choice and likewise earned all-defensive team honors this previous season.Ballo balanced 12.9 points and 10.1 rebounds this season, tallying 20 double-doubles and shooting nearly 66%from the field.

He opted for 15 points and 15 rebounds against Clemson in Arizona’s season-ending Sweet 16 loss in the NCAA tournament.Editor’s Picks Throughout his breakout 2022-23 project, Ballo balanced 14.2 points and 8.6 rebounds, shooting almost 65% from the field.He began his career at Gonzaga, then followed Tommy Lloyd from Spokane to Arizona when Lloyd became the head coach of the Wildcats.Ballo’s dedication is a big declaration by Indiana coach Mike Woodson, who will go into the 2024-25 season under pressure after the Hoosiers missed the NCAA competition and ended up 19-14 total. Indiana will revive honorable mention All-Big 10 forward Malik Reneau and the league’s co-Freshman of the Year in Mackenzie Mgbako. They have actually likewise currently landed a dedication from Washington State transfer Myles Rice, one of the best guards in the portal.How Woodson utilizes Reneau and Ballo together will be a storyline for the Hoosiers going into next season

. Indiana ranked near the bottom of Division I in 3-point attempt rate and portion of points from 3-pointers last season, making double-digit threes simply when all season and averaging 5.0 makes per game.Reneau has tried 53 3-pointers in 2 seasons, with 45 of them coming last season, while Ballo is yet to attempt a 3-pointer in 4 college seasons.