BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – Coach Mike Woodson’s offense revolved around the center position in his first three seasons at Indiana.
First it was Trayce Jackson-Davis, whose playmaking, shot-blocking and rebounding skills developed significantly under Woodson. He earned first-team All-American honors in 2022-23, and this year he finished 11th in NBA All-Rookie team voting with the Golden State Warriors.
Last season, Kel’el Ware shook off an underwhelming freshman season at Oregon and made the All-Big Ten second team and Big Ten All-Defensive team. After averaging a team-high 15.9 points per game with the Hoosiers, he’s a projected first-round pick in June’s NBA Draft.
While improving Indiana’s guard play was a major emphasis this offseason – Woodson landed transfer guards Myles Rice from Washington State and Kanaan Carlyle from Stanford – arguably the most notable addition of the spring portal cycle is Arizona center transfer Oumar Ballo.
Ballo, a true center at 7-foot and 260 pounds, gives Woodson the post anchor he clearly values. He’s a two-time All-Pac-12 first-team member and made the Pac-12 All-Defensive team, allowing just 18 field goals at the rim last season. Arizona won the Pac-12 regular season title last year and finished second in 2022-23, and Ballo was a major reason why.
“He’s won,” Woodson said. “He’s been in a winning atmosphere at Arizona, and he’s produced. He’s had some good years, and he’s an older guy that’s serious about winning. That was the whole thing that attracted me to him, and that’s why he’s wearing an Indiana uniform, man. Because I think he can help us with his leadership get to where I want to go and that’s winning a Big Ten title and a national title.”
As a senior, he ranked fourth among high-major players in defensive rebounding percentage and seventh in offensive rebounding percentage. In two seasons as a starter for the Wildcats, Ballo averaged 13.5 points, 9.4 rebounds and 1.3 blocks while shooting an efficient 65.3% from the field. Among over 1,000 transfers, Ballo is ranked No. 1 overall by On3.
Though Ballo plays the same position, by traditional definition, as Jackson-Davis and Ware, he’s a much different player. Ballo hasn’t attempted a 3-pointer in his college career, and he’ll do the vast majority of his scoring with dunks or layups right around the basket.
He won’t handle the ball on the perimeter or dish out flashy assists like Jackson-Davis and Ware, either. But Ballo’s size and strength might make him more difficult to stop when he catches the ball deep in the post.
“He doesn’t have to have [the ball] a lot, but I’m going to utilize him. You’d be crazy not to,” Woodson said. “He runs the floor. He creates space when he demands the ball. He blocks shots. He rebounds for his position.”
The addition of Ballo could require somewhat of an adjustment for Malik Reneau, who will likely start alongside a center with a different skill set than the ones he’s played with in the past. Reneau shot 33.3% from 3-point range across 45 attempts last season, and he also showed flashes of being able to take defenders off the dribble from the perimeter.
Because Ballo is not a perimeter threat, Woodson hinted Wednesday Reneau may have to expand his game so that the paint is not clogged for Ballo.
“I think [Ballo] and Malik will be just fine,” Woodson said. “It might free up Malik a little more to do some things I want him to do a little differently this year. But I think they can both coexist. I think Malik and Ware had a nice combination this year.”
A potential concern with both Reneau and Ballo is whether they can play extended minutes. Reneau fouled out seven times in 2023-24 and picked up four fouls in nine other games. That limited him to 28.7 minutes per game as a sophom*ore, and it’s possible he would have played more than 14.9 minutes per game as a freshman if he didn’t pick up at least three fouls in 19 games.
Ballo started 71 games for Arizona the past two seasons, but he played just 27.6 and 26.0 minutes per game during his junior and senior seasons, respectively. The reason Ballo doesn’t play 30-plus minutes per game is not necessarily due to foul trouble like it has been for Reneau, who averaged 3.1 fouls per game last season. Ballo averaged just 2.1 fouls in 2023-24 and 2.3 the previous season. Across two full seasons as a starter, he picked up four fouls in 11-of-71 games and fouled out just once, way back in November 2022.
Ballo can get tired at times, especially when he plays long stretches in the second half. He’s also a poor free throw shooter at 56.4% across his career and just 49.5% last season. If he’s on the court late in games, teams could like their chances when they intentionally put him at the free throw line.
Past seasons suggest Woodson will have to divide front court minutes in a different manner with Reneau and Ballo. Kel’el Ware played 32.2 minutes per game last season, and Trayce Jackson-Davis provided even more at 34.5 the year before. Reneau would have to significantly cut down on fouls, and Ballo would have to improve his conditioning and free throw shooting to reach those averages.
Mackenzie Mgbako is returning to Indiana after being named Co-Big Ten Freshman of the Year in 2023-24 and averaging 12.2 points and 4.1 rebounds per game. At 6-foot-8, Mgbako started alongside the 6-foot-9 Reneau and 7-foot Ware last season, but Woodson also experimented with Mgbako at power forward in a few games.
Indiana also added Illinois transfer Luke Goode, a 6-foot-7 wing who shot 38.8% from 3-point range across three collegiate seasons. Langdon Hatton, listed at 6-foot-10 and 240 pounds, shot 33.3% from 3-point range on 45 attempts last season playing in a perimeter-oriented offense at Bellarmine.
Much will be determined by the next eight weeks of summer practice, but depending on matchups, Woodson seems more eager to play smaller lineups and space the floor than he did last season.
“Absolutely, just like I played in New York,” Woodson said Wednesday. “I just haven’t been able to get there, and I think we can this year based on what we brought in. We can play smaller a little bit with Mack and Goode probably playing some four. Even the big fella, I’m going to try to play two bigs just to test it and see, you just never know."
