Mario Saint-Supery won’t be the only former Gonzaga player on the floor for Valencia Basket this upcoming season.
Oumar Ballo, who spent one year with the Zags in 2020-21, just signed a three-year deal with the reigning Spanish Champions, according to his agent Ivan Zoroski on social media Friday morning.
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The 7’0 center joins Saint-Supery in Valencia after the point guard shocked Gonzaga’s coaching staff by leaving the program in mid-July and signing a 5-year deal back in his home country. The move came after Saint-Supery had a promising freshman season in Spokane, averaging 8.6 points and 3.8 assists in 23.1 minutes per game while shooting 40.8% from the three-point line.
Big move for Ballo
Feb 23, 2025; Bloomington, Indiana, USA; Indiana Hoosiers center Oumar Ballo (11) celebrates after a dunk during the second half against the Purdue Boilermakers at Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall. | USA TODAY Sports via Reuters Connect
Ballo was one of the last international players recruited by Tommy Lloyd to play for Gonzaga, joining the team for the incredible 2020-21 season, when they did not lose a game until the national championship against Baylor.
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In a frontcourt that included Drew Timme and Anton Watson, along with small-ball four Corey Kispert and freshman Ben Gregg, Ballo struggled to find consistent playing time – ultimately appearing in 24 games and averaging 2.5 points and 1.5 rebounds in 6.3 minutes per night.
After the season, Lloyd took the head coaching job at Arizona and Ballo followed him out of Spokane, twice earning Pac-12 First Team honors as well as Pac-12 Most Improved Player in the 2022-23 season.
After three years in Tucson, Ballo took advantage of his fifth year of eligibility to reportedly earn over $1M in NIL to play for Indiana in the Big Ten – averaging 13 points, 9.1 rebounds, and 1.3 blocks for the Hoosiers while leading the conference with a 62.3% field goal rate.
Ballo’s first professional season consisted of 33 games played, 29 with Pallacanestro Cant in Italy, where he averaged 10.9 points and 8.2 rebounds while shooting 65.8% from the field. He also played four games in Rwanda with RSSB Tigers, averaging 12 points and ten boards.
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Now he’s set to join Saint-Supery in Valencia, a club that won the Liga Endesa thanks to star forward Jean Montero and elite point guard Sergio de Larrea. de Larrea took his talent to the NBA after the season and was selected No. 25 overall, landing with the Dallas Mavericks and setting off a chain of events that saw Saint-Supery depart Spokane to replace him, while Gonzaga landed Dayton transfer point guard Javon Bennett on Thursday to replace Saint-Supery at point guard.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com/college/gonzaga as Former Gonzaga big man joins Mario Saint-Supery in signing with Valencia.
