Oumar Ballo (basketball)

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For the association football player, see Oumar Ballo (football).
Oumar Ballo
File:Oumar Ballo 2 (cropped).jpg
Ballo with Arizona in 2021
No. 11 – Arizona Wildcats
Position Center
League Pac-12 Conference
Personal information
Born (2002-07-13) 13 July 2002 (age 22)
Koulikoro, Mali
Nationality Malian
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
Men's basketball
Representing  Mali
FIBA Under-19 World Cup
Silver medal – second place 2019 Greece Team
FIBA Africa U18 Championship
Gold medal – first place 2018 Mali Team
FIBA Africa U16 Championship
Gold medal – first place 2017 Mauritius

Oumar Ballo (born 13 July 2002) is a Malian college basketball player for the Arizona Wildcats of the Pac-12 Conference. He previously played for the Gonzaga Bulldogs. Listed at 7 feet 0 inches (2.13 m) and 260 pounds (118 kg), he plays the center position.

Early life and career

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]

High school career

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]

Recruiting

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 Home town 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 
Scout: N/A   Rivals:5/5 stars   247Sports:4/5 stars    ESPN: N/A   ESPN grade: —
Overall recruiting rankings:   Rivals: —  247Sports: 66  ESPN: —
  • Note: In many cases, Scout, Rivals, 247Sports, and ESPN may conflict in their listings of height and weight.
  • In these cases, the average was taken. ESPN grades are on a 100-point scale.

Sources:

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College career

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]

National team career

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.[15] 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.[16] 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.[17] 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.[18]

Ballo competed at the 2019 FIBA Under-19 World Cup in Heraklion, Greece, missing the first two games due to visa issues.[19][20] 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.[20] Ballo was named to the All-Star Five with teammate Siriman Kanouté.[21]

Career statistics

Legend
  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

College

Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
2019–20 Gonzaga Redshirt 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
Career 61 0 11.7 .623 – .667 3.3 .4 .3 .8 5.1

Personal life

Ballo's mother and father stand Lua error in Module:Convert at line 1851: attempt to index local 'en_value' (a nil value). and Lua error in Module:Convert at line 1851: attempt to index local 'en_value' (a nil value). respectively. His older brother, Drissa, who stands Lua error in Module:Convert at line 1851: attempt to index local 'en_value' (a nil value). and weighs 118 kg (260 lbs), plays professional basketball in France.[1]

References

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  20. ↑ 20.0 20.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  21. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.

External links

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