Oumar Ballo's transfer from Gonzaga to Arizona paying off for him — and the Wildcats, too

On his way through Spokane last week, Oumar Ballo visited Gonzaga’s basketball facilities and said hello to some old friends.

“It was really nice,” the 7-footer from Mali said.

But the distance from the Zags that he now keeps as Arizona’s backup center, as it is turning out, is proving to be a good thing for Ballo and the Wildcats.

Ballo’s transfer to Arizona gave him the chance to continue his strong relationship with coach Tommy Lloyd while finding what has probably been a better basketball fate.

Ballo averaged 6.2 minutes over 24 games last season for the Zags, not playing at all in eight of them, but has emerged into a key reserve at Arizona. Ballo has averaged double-figure minutes for the past 11 games, and logged 20 or more minutes in three of the Wildcats’ past five games.

“It’s getting to the point where we’re counting on it, which is really cool,” Lloyd said of Ballo’s contributions. “Because a few weeks ago or a month ago, we were hoping for it, and now you’re counting on it.”

It might be hard to imagine Ballo would have had the same opportunity if he had stayed at Gonzaga, where national player of the year candidate Drew Timme and projected NBA lottery pick Chet Holmgren anchor the post spots.

Even getting time off the bench might have been tough. Last season, forward Ben Gregg passed Ballo in the Zags’ rotation last season — and Gregg is still averaging just 6.8 minutes this season. Meanwhile, versatile junior forward Anton Watson has averaged 18.6 minutes per game off the bench.

Still, Lloyd wasn’t about to guess how that would all have sorted out.

“I don’t know. You know how bad I am at hypotheticals,” Lloyd said Saturday, after Ballo had 10 points and five rebounds in UA’s 92-68 win over Washington. “I’m glad he’s with us. I’m glad he’s doing well and he’s a really valuable part of Arizona basketball.”

Especially over the past month.

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While Ballo had some big moments earlier in the season, playing 21 minutes against Sacramento State on Nov. 27 when starting center Christian Koloko sprained an ankle, his role accelerated after forward Azuolas Tubelis’ legs were taken out from under him at Stanford on Jan. 20. Tubelis suffered a high ankle sprain that kept him out at Cal three days later — and kept him to a limited role in subsequent games with UCLA and ASU.

Ballo went on to collect a career-high 21 points and six rebounds at Stanford, and has averaged 16.3 minutes a game since then. Even last week in Washington, with Tubelis back in nearly full form, Ballo played an average of 19.5 minutes a game and scored 10 points in each.

“I struggled a little bit of the beginning of season but since the Stanford game, I found a good way to bring support to the team — bring energy, play defense, and offense will come along,” Ballo said. “I stayed with it. I didn’t quit and coach didn’t quit on me. I was patient and now it’s paying off.”

Ballo took advantage of the opportunities created by Tubelis’ injury and the still-unexplained absence of forward Kim Aiken in early December. He also helped create one.

Ballo also played well enough that, combined with Koloko’s ability to defend away from the basket, Lloyd has warmed up to the idea of playing both 7-footers together.

“The double-headed monster, whatever you want to call it, between him and ‘C-Lo,’” Lloyd says with a smile. “I mean, it’s formidable. And that goes to the deal with the cumulative effort. There’s just no let up.”

Had he stayed at Gonzaga, maybe Ballo would have intrigued Gonzaga coach Mark Few enough to play him alongside Holmgren when Timme took a break.

Maybe. Maybe not.

Again, Lloyd wasn’t going there. But Lloyd did acknowledge that all that talent at Gonzaga had something to do with Ballo’s limited role last season.

“That’s part of it,” Lloyd said. “He just needed an opportunity. It’s no fault of anybody’s. He was behind some obviously some great players at Gonzaga. And he has more battle scars now. So now he’s ready to come out. He knows what it takes.”