As Florida attempts to rebuild their frontcourt, it appears like they are going big game hunting with the chase of Arizona big man Oumar Ballo, who is widely regarded as the best player currently available in the transfer market.
The Mali native is now recognized as the best player on the internet by prominent analytics tool EvanMiya and first in the 247 Sports rankings. On3 now ranks him second. Whatever way you look at it, Oumar Ballo is a big name with the ability to move almost anywhere in the country, but that hasn’t deterred the Gators, who are actively seeking his services.
Ballo began his career at Gonzaga, where he took a true redshirt year before serving as a depth player as a redshirt freshman. When Gonzaga assistant Tommy Lloyd accepted a job at Arizona, Ballo decided to follow suit and transfer. Lloyd was the assistant who handled Ballo’s high school recruitment and believed he had more to offer than he had at Gonzaga. Ballo played just under 16 minutes per game as a redshirt sophomore before exploding in the 2022-23 season, averaging 14.2 points and 8.6 assists and emerging as one of the nation’s finest centres. Then, in his fifth year of collegiate basketball, Ballo followed up with 12.9 points, 10.1 rebounds, and 1.3 blocks, demonstrating his consistency as a top big man.
Ballo, who stands 7’0″ and weighs 260 pounds, is an enormous load on the inside. Ranking 15th in the country in offensive rebounding rate and 20th in defensive rebounding rate, and doing so in a power conference, there is a strong case for Ballo as the best rebounder in the country, which the Gators would appreciate as they work to improve their defensive rebounding and interior size. Last year, the Gators had length, which aided them with offensive rebounding, but they lacked strength and were frequently bullied in the frontcourt, and Ballo has the size to ensure that does not happen again. He wasn’t a great shot blocker, but he was a good rim defender who wouldn’t let stronger guards knock him off his position when they drove to the rim.
Offensively, Ballo is a competent post player who can use his size to get deep and force his defender into an impossible position, resulting in a high foul total, ranking 79th in the country. He also earns a lot of non-shooting fouls as teams wrap him up and grab him when he tries to get rebounds, which adds to his team’s worth.
Ballo can also establish large screens, creating space for guards to move downhill. These enormous screens also make Ballo a threat rolling to the basket, where he receives a lot of thunderous alley-oop lobs, but he rarely gets credit in the box score when an opponent scores in the space created by his massive screens.
When it comes to X-factors, Ballo is one of the most successful players in the country after five years of collegiate basketball. Look at where his teams finished in KenPom over his five seasons:
2024 Arizona: 6th
2023 Arizona: 11th
2022 Arizona: 5th
Gonzaga finished first in 2021.
Gonzaga finished second in 2020.
Surprisingly, Ballo has only been part of winning teams. Sure, he didn’t play a huge role in a couple of these seasons–but being around winning cultures is valuable experience, and something the Gators could use given that many of the players they’ve brought in recently haven’t had a taste of winning, which could be one of the reasons the team hasn’t reached the heights expected of it.
Given Ballo’s accomplishments, there will be fierce competition for his services. He is already set to visit Indiana, Louisville, Kansas State, North Carolina, and Florida (in that order, though dates have yet to be published).
With Ballo’s age and experience on winning teams at the high-major level, he appears to be a lock for All-League play wherever he goes, so keep an eye on him.
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