By R.L. Bynum
Arizona’s Oumar Ballo, the top-ranked center in the transfer portal, was reportedly going to visit North Carolina but has committed to Indiana, according to multiple reports.
The 6–10, 245-pounder from Mali, who will be a graduate transfer, visited Indiana this week and canceled a planned trip to Louisville after that. He was reportedly expected to visit UNC next week before deciding to play for the Hoosiers.
A teammate of former UNC star guard Caleb Love with the Wildcats, he has career averages of 9.6 points, 6.6 rebounds and 1.1 blocks in 132 games. He earned first-team All-Pac 12 honors the last two seasons, and made the Pac-12 All-Defensive team last season.
Carolina is still pursuing Rutgers shot-blocker Clifford Omoruyi, who has UNC on his final list of 12 schools. The Tar Heels need a center after Bacot exhausted his eligibility, with Jalen Washington, Zayden High and Jae’Lyn Withers post players who could return.
Ballo has scored more than 20 points eight times in his career, including a career-high 30 points against Creighton on Nov. 23, 2022.
Ballo, who played his freshman season at Gonzaga after redshirting for the 2019–20 season, averaged 12.9 points, 10.1 rebounds and 1.3 blocks last season as Arizona won the final Pac 12 regular-season title and finished 27–9.
Ballo is the Arizona career field-goal percentage leader at 64.6% and is seventh in program history in blocks (134) and eighth in rebounds (830).
If there is a weakness for Ballo, it’s free-throw shooting. He is a career 56.4% shooter at the line and only made 49.5% of his attempts last season.
The Wildcats were ranked No. 1 for two weeks in December and was No. 12 in the final AP poll that was released on Tuesday.
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UNC is one under the 15-player limit. The class for next season is listed.
| No./ Stars | Class | Player | Pos. | Hgt | Wgt |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5 star | Freshman | Maximo Adams | SF | 6–7 | 205 |
| 3 star | Freshman | Malloy Smith | CG | 6–5 | 190 |
| 5 star | Freshman | Sayon Keita | C | 7–0 | 215 |
| 4 star | Freshman | Kevin Thomas | W | 6–7 | 190 |
| Freshman | Alexandros Samodurov | C | 6–11 | 212 | |
| RS freshman | Cade Bennerman — W | C | 7–0 | 205 | |
| Sophomore | Neoklis Avdalas — X | G | 6–9 | 215 | |
| Sophomore | Isaiah Denis | G | 6–4 | 180 | |
| Sophomore | Matt Able — Y | G | 6–5 | 196 | |
| 1 | Senior | Terrence Brown — Z | G | 6–3 | 174 |
| 4 | Senior | Jaydon Young | G | 6–4 | 200 |
| 15 | Senior | Jarin Stevenson | 4 | 6–10 | 215 |
| Walk-ons | |||||
| 25 | Junior | John Holbrook | 4 | 6–8 | 230 |
| 32 | Senior | Evan Smith | 2 | 6–1 | 195 |
W — Northwestern transfer. X — Virginia Tech transfer; Y — N.C. State transfer; Z — Utah transfer
Michael Malone’s coaching staff: Chuck Martin, Bryan Tibaldi, Sean May and Pat Sullivan; Deon Thompson will be a graduate assistant, and Brandon Robinson will reportedly have a support staff position.
Players who left for the transfer portal
| Player | Class next season | Pos. | Hgt | Wgt | Next school |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Luka Bogavac | Senior | W | 6–6 | 215 | Oklahoma State |
| James Brown | Senior | C | 6–10 | 240 | Howard |
| Derek Dixon | Sophomore | G | 6–5 | 200 | Arizona |
| Kyan Evans | Senior | G | 6–2 | 175 | Minnesota |
| Zayden High | Junior | C | 6–10 | 230 | South Florida |
| Jonathan Powell | Junior | G | 6–6 | 190 | Pittsburgh |
| Ivan Matlekovic | Junior | C | 7–0 | 255 |
Schedule so far
(Other than the ACC/SEC Challenge, games without links revealed from reporting by Alex Rosinski or Rocco Miller)
(13 of 14 games)
Oct. 18 — exhibition game vs. Indiana at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis
Nov. 2 — vs. Western Carolina
Nov. 6 — vs. Wofford
Nov. 10 — vs. Wyoming
Nov. 13 — vs. Georgia
Nov. 20 — vs. Marshall
Nov. 27 — vs. West Virginia at the Dick Vitale Invitational at Charlotte’s Spectrum Center
Dec. 1 — vs. Arkansas in ACC/SEC Challenge
Dec. 6 — vs. Butler
Dec. 12 — at Georgetown
Dec. 15 (tentative date) — vs. N.C. State in a non-conference game in Greensboro
Dec. 19 — vs. Kentucky in CBS Sports Classic at Madison Square Garden, 2:30 p.m.
Dec. 21 — vs. The Citadel
Jan. 30 — vs. Illinois in Nashville, Tenn.
ACC games
Home and away: Duke, Louisville
Home only: California, Georgia Tech, Miami, N.C. State, SMU, Stanford, Virginia
Away only: Boston College, Florida State, Notre Dame, Pitt, Syracuse, Virginia Tech, Wake Forest
Photo via @ArizonaMBB
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